Si Hene

I would use the Elevate Prize to establish the physical in person space for Si Hene. Si Hene is currently operating as a digital platform on the various social media platform. We would use some of the money to rental a building space to have our first office in Accra, Ghana.

The fund will help to invest in equipment that is needed to run a conservation room for preserving archives in a digital and physical sense (portable and stationary). We would get desktops, scanners, camera equipment to photograph help us archives our materials. We will look into getting archive storage and display cases for the material. 

It will also go towards buying books and objects (stamps, postcards, fabrics..etc) that people are selling that have a historical context. All these items will go towards enhancing how people will interact with the Si Hene physical collection for potential exhibitions and hopefully museums one day.

Finally part of the fund will go toward to cover the expense our first Art exhibition "Mo Apiafo!" this coming December 2021. Which will bring the history and the art to the people all over the country of Ghana.

I am a Ghanaian-American interdisciplinary artist, who explores the identities of Africans and African Americans while showcasing the profound beauty and power of black culture. My art and research celebrate African and Black Aesthetic while exploring her cross-cultural background and identity as both an African and an American woman. She considers herself a narrative photographer that engages with the mediums of painting, printmaking, and textiles.

I look in depth in the understanding of the concept of the “Black Aesthetic” and its relationship to blackness in western society. My blackness was influenced by my parents’ Ghanaian culture—which is her foundation as a Black woman. I embrace my own aesthetic, by reinterpreting the royal umbrella which is the symbol of hierarchy within the chieftaincy in Ghana.

Si Hene started as my graduate research. Through my research, I started collecting archival images and videos that displayed the umbrella. I started seeing the lack of accessibility to get archives of different regions through the lens of the traditional chieftaincy. My goal is to create spaces specially Museums and research centers all over Ghana where people from all ages can come and learn about our royal history!

Si Hene means "Enstoolment" in Akan. It serves as a source to bring forth the cultural heritage of the Chieftaincy archives of Ghana. Looking through material, it provides a deeper perspective and preserves the legacy of the individuals that once ruled from the 1800s to the modern-day. We hope through this platform to reclaim power as Ghanaians and bring more accessibility and to physically learn about Ghana's royal history.

We serve three main sectors, using the term "PAA" which means alot in Akan. We Preserve the historical archives of the chieftaincy in Ghana.  Make it Accessibility to the Ghanaian people and abroad, while bringing Awareness of the importance of our cultural history.

The new approach that I am taking is providing a digital museum on instagram, during a time, where many spaces and institutions are closed because of pandemic. In a physical matter, Si Hene acts the messenger for the Ministry of Chieftaincy and the Kings, Chiefs and Queensmother in each other region. We are able to continue their stories and legacy in a modern way for them. In a day and age where these traditional way are slowly losing value, we are able to present them in a way that the younger generation can relate to it.

Some of the challenges I face with Si Hene are that when searching through databases and books, the photographs will be there but there will be a lack of information behind it; especially information about the individual’s name and bio. Even when the information is not always right or written from the Ghanaian perspective, so to be able to update the misinformation that are out their online, we are becoming the storytellers for our country and rewriting our history to provide the best for the generations to come. I'm working history in Ghana to help collect for the photos and as well working with the many institutions and database to se how we can best work together to provide a more accessible and accurate chieftaincy database!