Gideon Appah (GA): I see you’ve developed a silk-screening approach in your new body of work? What is your relationship with textiles?
Emmanuel Taku (ET): Growing up, my sister was a seamstress, and my perennial obsession with fabric stems from that. I had always found that exploring Accra’s textile landscape, be it in wax print or in imported floral paisley (such as the one I grew up with), has always amused me. As someone who regularly wears paisley, my work embodies an enclothed cognition. So using it on my figurative surrealist subjects was a very organic decision. Also, the lived experience of observing my sister work extensively with fabric further informs this.
GA: What do you think about the steady surge in figurative artists depicting black bodies?
ET: I think I am deeply excited about our repossessive narrative and that this idea of black people depicting black bodies feels like an awakening of sorts. And what I mean by “repossessive” is reclaiming the way we are depicted as black people and is a juxtaposition that stems from being a person of color, and African myself. At the Barbican, you have an amazing display of this explosion of expression by Toyin Ojin Odutola who has constantly evolved and challenged the representation of black bodies in her work. My dear Kwesi Botchway, whom I went to the Ghanatta Institute of Art and Design with equally evolving the state of existence when it comes to rendering black bodies with his unique approach and visual language. As someone who has familiarized themselves with the concept of post-black art, I think it is a very exciting time to be alive as an authentically African Ghanaian artist within the landscape of this movement towards a more critical and sincere depiction of the black body in all its forms.
GA: Your body of work has been titled “Temple of Blackness” – where does that originate from?
ET: For my inaugural work with the Noldor Artist Residency, I was deeply moved by a British-Ghanaian artist, John Akomfra, who gave a speech reminiscing on his childhood in which he referred to museums as “Temples of Whiteness”. I remembered how deeply this resonated with me in the sense that black people and black bodies have never been conventionally canonized in many cultural institutions. And as you know Gideon, this is all part of changing the narrative in my work – that I wanted to capture black bodies as “deity” within the context of being unapproachable and almost superior. This is a context that is not familiar within the way in which blackness is usually rendered in classical paintings. Also, I thoroughly enjoyed creating this body of work for me which felt like poetry in motion.
GA: As someone who engages with surrealism in my own work, I wanted to ask you to talk more about your surrealist approach?
ET: Surrealism enables me to express my work in a four-dimensional fashion. It is within these multitudes that I best express myself. My figures are decisively anthropomorphic and for me, being able to almost depict black bodies as creatures of splendor is a liberating process. Studying artists over the years like Frida Kahlo meant that I could push the envelope of my visual language. Also, being able to look up to artists like yourself, Gideon, following your amazing show “Blue Boy Blues” with the Mitchell-Innes & Nash gallery in New York has really expanded my appreciation of how I can imbue more depth, expression, and even experienced ecstasy within my work. I am deeply excited about the future and the way in which I develop within a surrealist context, as my appetite to find new horizons grows as I continue to live and work in Accra.
GA: What impact has the Noldor Artist Residency sincerely had on your life? Both personally and within your practice as a contemporary African artist?
ET: Gratitude in more ways than I know to express, but since I must, I can say that I have really grown, not only artistically but personally, at Noldor. The day before the opening preview on the 4th of December was remarkably emotional for me as only for the first time in my ten years of practicing as an obscure artist have I ever been able to iconize my work in a large format – at a scale that really encapsulates all that my work stands for. I think the blessing of the residency was also having my final week to spend at the private equestrian retreat. Also, being able to interact with horses and nature while still in Accra, felt like the break I needed especially after the stress of dealing with the aftermath Covid-19 pandemic. I believe there is a magical aura of creativity brewing within the La seaside district – you have the legendary Professor Ablade Glover nearby the residency warehouse at Artist Alliance, Serge Attukwei Clottey’s famous studio is, nearby as well, and finally, there is the Sandbox Beach Club designed by Sir David Adjaye also around the corner with an amazing sea-front view. So for me, it has just been a deep honor to have this large double volume 150sqm space in the midst of all this to create this body of work which has been a unique experience in and of itself. Joseph (Awuah-Darko), as you know, has been truly supportive and encouraging throughout this entire process and I find that his compassion and attention to detail when it comes to how I have felt and fed over these past four weeks has been much appreciated from my point of view. Growth can be a scary thing but it is good to have someone who believes in you, empowering and enabling you to push your limits, and delve deeper into the true meaning of your practice. I felt that having access to in-house residence psychologists put a few things in perspective that facilitated some growth both in personal life and practice. I am really looking forward to which artist gets to experience this privilege next and fervently believe that the Noldor Artist Residency has a crucial role to play within the African contemporary art ecology as a beacon of hope for emerging practitioners all over the continent.
