Since its 2015 inception, Manju Journal has strived to elevate emerging creative talent from across the African continent: not only burgeoning photographers and designers, but also architects, poets, and more. Now, the Ghanaian arts platform is gearing up to release VOICES, a new book of interviews and illustration.
“It’s important to point out that there are no artist profiles in this book,” says Orlando Mensah, founding director of Manju, noting the importance of the artists speaking about their work in their own words. “They all agreed to talk to us, which is indicative of the community spirit amongst them. It demonstrates that they are interested in helping us document what they are all collectively creating. You’ve really never seen such a wide ranging group of artists who have a sense of community, of helping, promoting and supporting each other. It’s the opposite of competitiveness; it’s togetherness.”
VOICES came about when the visual arts publisher 24˚36˚ approached Manju with the idea to collaborate together on a book about Ghana. Looking at exciting new creatives on social media, the publisher noticed a pattern in many of the artists’ bios – the presence of a little Ghanaian flag. There was also the realisation that many of the creative leaders in London’s scene hailed from the same place, including Edward Enninful, Ozwald Boateng and Ekow Eshun.
“It’s obviously something we’ve been aware of as well, so we loved this idea,” Orlando says. “But the scope felt daunting.” Following initial discussions, they decided to focus solely on visual artists, “rather than also include the equally exciting worlds of Ghanaian fashion and music.” The book features a diverse selection of artists, from newly-graduated painters to a nonagenarian photographer, making sure to acknowledge the great variety of visual artists in Ghana and its diaspora, including textile designers, ceramicists, sculptors and filmmakers.
“I may be biased as I’m based in Accra, but I genuinely feel that the Ghanaian art scene is Africa’s most vibrant and preeminent,” Orlando says. “It is really amazing how much Ghanaian art and how many Ghanaian artists are being represented and exhibited around the world right now. We are fundamentally a very creative and expressive culture. That’s been the case for hundreds of years, now it’s just most obvious in terms of the contemporary art world.”
For Orlando, VOICES is an opportunity to spotlight some of the most under-exposed talent in the art world. “We would like this book to be a great introduction to what’s happening in Ghana but also importantly in Africa. Because while this book focuses on Ghana’s art scene and creative community, we really hope that it will encourage people to explore more contemporary African artists, galleries and curators. We would love this book to help push modern African art and creativity from being othered to being completely mainstream. It’s a total celebration of a very beautiful time and community.”
‘VOICES’ is available for purchase here.
Credits
All images courtesy Manju Journal