 |
| some of the paintings on display at the event |
He goes by the name of Musah Swallah popularly
known as Moses, coming from a humble background, he rose from hardships to
become an artist. He specializes in oil paintings
and, sand and wood sculpture.
Starting
his high school education in the heart of Accra, he attended Adab Islamic Mission
School in Nima-Accra. From there, he continued to La-Presec where he studied
Visual Arts and completed in 2006.
He
began sketching in Junior High School after which he continued to do visual
arts in secondary school.
As
his friends put it, “he helped us with our visual art drawings and pre-
technical skills in class”.
Musah
explained that most of his colleagues entered different fields to pursue their
childhood dreams, as faith will have it, Musah also did not give up on his
childhood dreams of becoming a great artist one day.
"I
remember my collegues, Mumin Saeed who was a very good mathematician, the young
man worked his way through life and is now an accountant doing his national
service in one of the reputable firms in Accra. Dangaskiya Ventures Limited".
With
Musah Swallah, he distinguished himself with the very things he knew he was
good at, painting.
One
of the paintings on display at the Goathe Institute is a narration of three friends who travelled to Libya to seek
greener pastures. The whole idea behind this painting is based on the story of
the friends he grew up with in Nima. Musah describes their deaths as tragic,
the first one travelled via the Sahara
desert to enter Libya in 2005 in search of greener pastures, he succeeded and
after a few years of work, decided to continue to Europe to seek greener
pastures.
Musah, however, added that his close friend was among the
people who died in the boat accidents, ‘and he was only 17’, Musah Laments.
Another
two took the same route in search of greener pastures in Libya, and a different
faith befell them, they all died, from the reports I heard “they died from
hunger and thirst on the Sahara Desert”, that was also in 2006., that was the
same year I completed my senior high school, Musah adds.
The talented artist had also nursed dreams to embark
on a Libyan trip, but the horrifying tales from friends did not help matters.
“I
did a series of how Africans travelled by boat abroad, I was able to produce 22
artworks which were all sketches”, after I asked where he had kept the
sketches, Musah said he has no idea where he kept his early creations.
When
asked if he can re-produce the art work he did, he just smiled and said
“hmmmmmmm, I can reproduce some, if you need it”.
He
draws his inspiration from stories of people around him, what they do and how
they live, “and am always learning from people who came before me”, he
disclosed.
Some of his famous paintings to be put on display
include By
Road, On the Way Which Is Painted on Glass, Morocco to Spain, Libya to Italy, I
Also Have Lost, No Hope, and many more.
The Nima-born artist was mentored by two art guru’s
right after Senior high school. ‘I can never forget of Mozzay and Akirash’ he
added.
He
belongs to a society called the Nima Muhinmachi Club (NMA) which was formed in 2011, the aim
of the group is to teach kids between the ages of 8-18 how to paint, and they
have 25 artists in the group.
In
his spare time, Musah teaches kids the art of painting, and photography. He has
successfully left marks on the walls of Nima Cluster of Schools on the importance
of education. The walls of Kanda and Jamestown will also continue to bare his
pen name.
His
first solo exhibition will be on the 22/11/2013 at the GOETHE Institute in Accra,
Cantonments at exactly 7:30 pm, make it a point to be there to see how Musah’s paintings will look like.
BE
THEREEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
No comments:
Post a Comment