And then I interviewed Kofi, which was nice.

In the excitement of my 2am blog, I failed to actually mention what I did yesterday before all the fun of dinner, salsa and beach reggae!  (I'd like to clarify that I wasn't remotely drunk last night either, although I was slightly hyper from drinking Ghanaian Red Bull called 'Burn.')  So before all the partying, my day was extremely productive!  It was technically my last working day for Nubuke, although there are some small write-ups I'd like to do when I get back.  Odile had asked me to conduct a couple of interviews - one with Kofi for his website and the other with Florence Benson, a collector of Ghanaian and Nigerian art who is selling off a large part of her collection through Nubuke next year.

I arrived at work early and Kofi drove me to Odile's house, which is a large, beautiful house in a part of Accra I had not yet been to.  Odile then drove me out to Florence Benson's house, on an estate on the outskirts of the city.  The road to the estate involved some of the most spectacular "off-road" driving I've ever experienced; I finally understand why everyone with money here insists on driving ridiculously large SUVs.  Florence's house was utterly immersed in hundred and hundreds of orchids, in all colours which grew in pots and hanging baskets on every square inch of space outside the building.  It was truly very beautiful and Florence quickly confessed that whilst art had always been her passion, orchids were her new love.  Inside her house I quickly realised how immense her collection was with works by El Anatsui, Kofi Setordji, Kofi Dawson, Ablade Glover and many other renowned African artists filling the walls.  As with the orchids, it appeared Mrs Benson was not someone who did things by halves.

We talked for over half an hour and I asked her all about her collection and the Ghanaian art scene in general including how she got started, which artists she was particularly keen on, what the major challenges facing young artists in Ghana and how she might advise someone wanting to start a collection.  She was softly spoken, extremely generous woman who had been a civil servant before stumbling across a painting she loved and the collecting buzz started.  She was wonderfully insightful about the very real problems faced by artists and she spoke at length about why an organisation like Nubuke is so vital, a private initiative with a non-profit remit and public interest.  After my interview she walked me around her house and explained about how she collected various items.  Again, I was so thrilled to be listening to her tales of falling in love and out of love with various pieces.  She also had an immense collection of antiques from Ife heads and bronze figurines to Ashanti wooden doors and combs.  I should also mention that she served the most delicious homemade juice - pineapple, melon and ginger.  As we left she wished me well and I said, sincerely, that I hoped we would meet again before too long.

Odile and I drove back to Nubuke, chatting about the interview and how lovely Florence Benson is.  We talked about Nubuke's PR needs and the possibility of expanding its development programme.  I quickly realised how much more I'd love to be able to do for Nubuke and I hope very much that this placement is the start of a longer term engagement with the foundation.

In the early afternoon I had my chance to interview Kofi.  It felt appropriate that this was my final task at Nubuke.  I'd prepared a list of questions covering all aspects of his epic career - from early days as a graphic designer, through her career as a painter and sculptor, his work at Nubuke and his aspirations for an art school in Ghana.  We talked at length about "Genocide" his memorial to the Rwandan genocide that has travelled all over Africa and Europe.  It was reading about this project whilst research memorial culture in Rwanda last autumn that I first looked into working for Kofi at Nubuke; it there therefore amazing to be able to discuss the work with him.  We also discussed Kofi forthcoming trip to Italy.  He, along with Mona Hatoum, is one of the inaugural Bellagio Creative Arts Fellowship funded by the Rockefeller Foundation.  The fellowship involves a three-month residency at Lake Como and an exhibition next year.  Kofi is truly inspiring and an immensely talented individual with a real vision as to why culture and creativity is a necessity in the twenty-first century; I feel honoured to have had the opportunity to discuss his ideas at length with him.  (I'm typing up the interview next week and I may post it on this blog because I do feel what he had to say would be of great interest to any studying art, museums or African culture in general.)

So that was my final assignment...and I ended the day, of course, eating, drinking and dancing (again) to Bob Marley on the beach.