ADANNVOR - CREATIVE TEXTILE | Kofi Setordji
GALERIE GÖTTLICHER
Krems-Stein, May 2017
In the Ewe language, 'Adann' stands for originality and creativity, 'Avor' for textile. The title of the exhibition is a word created from both. The textiles shown in the exhibition have been produced by the Ghanaian artist Kofi Setordji in collaboration with Kente, master weavers from different regions and weaving cultures of Ghana. Traditionally, Kente weaving has been for a particular clan, and every Kente has a particular name and meaning behind. Kofi Setordji designs new Kente, which he then discusses and creates with master weavers. Thereby, new dyeing and weaving techniques are explored and integrated, and lightness is celebrated. New meanings inscribe themselves into the woven textiles.
The [Applied] Foreign Affairs Lab of the University of Applied Arts Vienna has dealt with possible ways of displaying Kente for the exhibition. The aim was to find a spatial translation which reflects Kofi Setordji's interest in understanding Kente also as a usable textile, as a second skin, between epidermis and built space.
Following the exhibition in Krems-Stein, the work will be continued in Ghana: Exhibition architectures are being developed for the new textile museum of the Nubuke Foundation in Wa, whose artistic director is Kofi Setordji.
ARTIST
Kofi Setordji
CURATOR
Baerbel Mueller
EXHIBITION DEISGN
[A]FA Arian Lehner, Ben Goern, Mary Denman, Stephanie Rizaj
KOFI SETORDJI, born in 1957, is an internationally renowned Ghanaian sculptor and painter. His practice expands into the designing of fabric, furniture, houses, and the mentoring of young artists. He is the founder of the Arthaus Artists residency and the Nubuke Foundation, one of the most important cultural art spaces in Accra, Ghana. Kofi Setordji had numerous solo exhibitions in Africa, Europe and the USA, 2008 he was awarded with the Rockefeller Award.
