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Satirical cartoon exhibition highlights art as a tool for civic engagement

This past weekend (8th February, 2015) marked the end of Ghana’s second exhibition on satirical cartoons, curated by Ashesi Professor Dr. Joseph Oduro-Frimpong at Alliance Français in Accra. The free, public event featured the works of five leading Ghanaian satirical cartoonists today: Akosua (Daily Guide), Anadan (Ghanaweb), Daavi (Daily Graphic), Makaveli (JoyfmOnline and Business and Financial Times) and The Black Narrator (Daily Graphic). The very first exhibition of this kind was held in June 1984 by renowned Ghanaian cartoonist, Ghanatta.

The broad aim of the exhibition was to reject, and correct, the perception that cartoons and arts serve as mere entertainment, and to advocate for a broader understanding of the popular media genre as ‘critical entertainment’. 

“Satirical cartoons are a useful tool for increasing civic engagement,” Dr. Frimpong explained. “Due to the genre’s reliance on imagery to communicate core messages, it reaches a broader audience than written texts that require some level of formal literacy. People are able to decode pictures, even in cases where they cannot fully understand the written text that accompanies it.” 

A diverse audience, including academics from different disciplines, students, and human rights lawyers, attended the exhibition.

“The interest in Ghanaian popular arts in general (and the cartoons in particular), convinces me of the need to establish a Center for African Popular Culture,” Dr. Oduro-Frimpong added. “The Center, which I hope will be on Ashesi’s campus, will focus on fostering intellectual discussions and exhibitions around African popular media.”

Dr. Oduro-Frimpong’s current work broadly focuses on Ghanaian popular culture/media. He is one of two Ghanaian scholars named African Humanities Programme (AHP) Postdoctoral Fellows (2014-2015) by the American Council of Learned Societies (ACLS). Some of his published research include: Glocalization Trends: Examining the Case of Hip-Life Music in Contemporary GhanaInternational Journal of Communication“Better Ghana Agenda”: On Akosua Cartoons and Critical Public Debates in Contemporary Ghana, in “Popular Culture in Africa: The Episteme of Everyday (Stephanie Newell & Onookome Okome); and Sakawa Rituals and Cyberfraud in Ghanaian Popular Video-MoviesAfrican Studies Review

 

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