How African art is coming of age in Dubai

African art is coming of age in Dubai as galleries such as Efie Gallery are showcasing contemporary artists from the continent.

Ghanaian artist Yaw Owusu’s works are on display — his first solo exhibition in the Middle East called In the Cool of the Day — at the gallery till December 20.

Owusu, who was born in 1992, creates installations that repurpose found objects, shifting otherwise worthless materials into encounters that challenge political landscapes. Using steel, gold, silver, copper, found objects in foils, sheets, and coins, the processes penetrate the strata of trade, exchange, and labour histories, questioning the foundations of contemporary economies.

London-based art adviser and curator Kami Gahiga has put together the exhibition, which displays 10 new works developed during the artist’s residency with Efie Gallery in Dubai in July.

Gahiga, a member of The Baer Faxt Art Advisory, provides bespoke art advisory services to private collectors, companies and institutions and is the recipient of a First Distinction Art Business master’s degree from the Sotheby’s Institute of Art in London, and is one of the brains behind introducing Owusu to Dubai and the Middle East

Owusu’s creations are influenced by Emirati culture and artists such as sculptor Dr Mohamed Yousif, as well as research at cultural institutions such as Sharjah Art Museum, Al Shindagha Museum, Etihad Museum, Louvre Abu Dhabi and Sheikh Zayed Mosque, in collaboration with Dubai Culture & Arts Authority, The Africa Institute and Mid East Art.

“My time at the residency in Dubai set the premise to encounter the fascinating culture and history of the UAE. Far beyond the textual and media description of the place, the encounters and visits to the cultural institutions, I was also inspired by Dr Yousif’s wisdom as I spent a lot of time with him.

“The period unveiled to me a journey of revelation of the identity of the people and their culture. These revelations inspired my process and thought, as well as the new forms that were realised during the residency. The works which were made during this period moved from the extravagance and materiality of my initial assumptions, into a more detailed depiction of historical references of architectural forms, trade and exchange along the Arabian Gulf, and religious and cultural interconnectivity.

“The works became more about the people, their history and culture, and how they responded to their land, much more than a prosaic representation of beauty and opulence,” he says.

Coin is an integral part of Owusu’s artistic expression.

“The use of coins in my work, particularly the least denominations, references the basic form of value. By juxtaposing these denominations from Ghana, the US and the UAE, I subject my relationship and understanding of value into critical query. The coins, which are mostly least valued or barely used, become new catalysts to delve into the economic and political dynamics of these places. Since these are objects through which trade and exchange is established, I use them together to reflect the complexity of global economic dialogues around labour and distribution of wealth in contemporary reality, as well as the bridge between symbolism and meaning. Money or currency itself is metal, paper, and in recent times plastic, my work questions the point at which they become valuable or not. I’m interested in the role places play on the objects as well. By moving Ghana pesewas and US pennies physically to the UAE, what does it become? Similarly, what happens when the UAE fils leave for another place? These questions about the power of place and the relationship to materiality and value fascinate me and influence my creations,” he says.

He used different currencies to provoke conversation around the shifting and transient nature of value across diverse economic and cultural contexts.