Catalogue: Exhibition of the Exhibition
From the start, a key objective of the Gold Matters’ project was that visual materials –photos, videos – co-created with members of mining communities, should circulate between these communities. We envisaged organizing ‘pop-up’ exhibitions, which would travel from West Africa, to Uganda, and the Amazon, and adding new works while on the road. Due to COVID-19, we were only able to organize one pop-up exhibition, from 12-15 January 2020 in Kejetia, northern Ghana.
Simultaneous to the preparation of the pop-up exhibition, curated by photographer Nii Obodai, we initiated various activities of co-labouring with members of the community, as part of what we called our ‘Sustainability Conversations Workshop’. The workshop involved residents of the mining community in Kejetia (including male gold miners, women involved in processing ore and schoolchildren). Gold Matters researchers from Europe and West Africa were also present, a cartographer, gold miners from another research site in the south of Ghana who had travelled with the research team to the north, photographers Nii Obodai and Mabel Seena, and painter Christophe Sawadogo. At the workshop, we collaborated to visualise gold mining spaces, gold miners’ lifeways, and ideas about sustainable futures. The activities included the mapping of Kejetia’s mining space via ‘walk-alongs’, using mobile mapping devices; co-labouring in the making of installation art guided and inspired by Christophe Sawadogo, and a photography workshop with schoolchildren, supervised by Mabel Seena. This event is the entry-point to this on-line exhibition, with a first room dedicated to the Exhibition of the Exhibition, which centers on:
Co-labouring in the 3-D field
Co-labouring around art
The photographic pop-up exhibition.
This is only the start. The Gold Matter’s project takes you on a journey through the three regions where we work: From the Arts of Co-Labouring, to ARTistic and ARTisanal, to In-depth Terrains, to Gold Lifeways, and Moving Matters.
Co-Labouring in the (3D) Field
Co-labouring is a key aspect of the Gold Matters project. It can be seen as a form of learning by preparing, doing and reflecting on activities in our project, which brings together a diverse group of researchers, artists and gold miners. Co-labouring creates shared experiences and moments of enjoyment (or stress), and facilitates the exchange of knowledge and generation of new perspectives.
In the Gold Matter’s Kejetia exhibition and workshop (January 2020) forms of co-labouring took different shapes: walking through mining environments together, thereby engaging in discussions about how these environments can be understood; jointly mapping and photographing different aspects of mining on the surface, meanwhile engaging in conversations among ourselves, but also with those working and living in the places we encountered; and creating photo and video material by miners of sub-surface domains that are difficult to access for outsiders. Typically such visual material informed further discussions in small groups or one-to-one afterwards.
The process of co-labouring we engaged in resulted in the creation of knowledge, not just in terms of words or text, but also in terms of visual material: photo and film. Consequently, we tried to expose underground work situations, geological features and socio-spatial relations for researchers and audiences who cannot access them directly. The mobile character of our co-labouring activities, bringing together participants from different regions, stimulated conversations between, for example, miners from the south and the north of Ghana, leading to sharing of experiences and strategies with regard to the targeting of gold, but also to how to best take care of ones’ own health. In some cases, it even revived old friendships, as long-time friends were coincidentally stumbled upon.
Co-Labouring in Art
Co-labouring around art is seen as a playful process in which social ties are made, social concerns expressed, and possible futures portrayed. Through artistic collaborations in transdisciplinary research, it is possible to highlight the extraordinary and to look anew at the daily. During the workshop in Kejetia, the painter Christophe Sawadogo and photographer Mabel Seena engaged in the making of artworks with residents of Kejetia. Together with women, Christophe created an art installation; Mabel co-laboured with schoolchildren in a photography project. For Christophe the line between art and the social is trespassed constantly; there is so much art in daily work. Just look at the plaster designs women in villages in northern Ghana and southern Burkina draw on their houses when they make repairs after the rainy season.
The collaborative artwork in Kejetia was prompted by sad events, which occurred underground. In recent years, the mining community of Gbane, of which Kejetia is part, had been shocked by a series of fatal accidents involving gold miners working underground for small-scale gold operations as well asemployees of the Chinese run Shaanxi mining operation. Christophe Sawadogo aimed to co-labour by creating art that would both symbolize the work of artisanal gold miners and commemorate the miners who had died in the dreadful accidents.
Mabel organized a workshop with schoolchildren of the Bonsa Basic Academy, a private school in Gbane which was founded by a former gold miner. Her aim was to instruct the children how to use the camera and, by strolling with them through town, inviting them to make photographs of scenes and events that they consider characteristic of their daily lives.
Photo Exhibition
A photo exhibition was held in Kejetia, northern Ghana, in January 2020. Here, we present photos of the exhibition. It expressed a central aspect of the transdisciplinary Gold Matters project to strengthen connections between mining experiences and practices across regions of West Africa (Ghana, Burkina Faso, and Guinea), East Africa (Uganda)and the Amazon (Brazil, Suriname and French Guyana). Gold mining worlds are always on the move miners, knowledges and practices travel. Gold miners learn from experiences they have gained in different places, and the mobility of knowledge provides incentives to innovations, both socially and technologically.
The Gold Matters project is part of such mobilities and seeks to contribute to the critical comparison of mining worlds. One way of doing this is by discussing and showing the variety of (in-depth) gold mining terrains, social arrangements, and technical developments in different mining regions.
For the exhibition in Kejetia, the Gold Matter’s team brought together photographs taken in the regions where they are undertaking research. On the basis of this photo archive, Nii Obodai curated and produced the exhibition in Kejetia. He was assisted by Mabel Seena. This inspired the name of this part of the on-line exhibition: The Exhibition of the Exhibition. Here we show the process of how, in January 2020, the Exhibition was organized and finally opened in a most festive way. Many photos which featured in the exhibition in Kejetia, also have a place in this on-line exhibition. They can be found in the thematic parts, on the wall of the region where the photos were taken. Nii Obodai’s black and white photographs can be found in the thematic section of ‘ARTistic and ARTisanal’.
Co-Labouring in the (3D) Field
Preparing to take “flat” maps to a 3D field
Co-labouring is about learning together, which also includes preparing together. In addition to getting acquainted with mapping software usable on mobile devices, as part of our preparations for a participatory mapping workshop we are here also studying maps of the area where the workshop would be conducted. Looking at this flat visualization of the landscape enabled us to develop an idea about the 3D field we were about to engage with. This included the different activities taking place at the moment, as well as longer histories of gold mining. Indeed one of the miners in the group had worked in these areas in the 1980s and 1990s and could trace his former mining activities on this contemporary map.
Arriving in the 3D field
Upon arrival in Kejetia, maps were exhibited and immediately drew the attention of many different people. As a result, they became vividly discussed. Local miners started to relate their surroundings to points in the map, thereby already bringing this image to life. In preparation of joint mapping exercises with mobile devices, maps were also shown on the mobile phone and instructions about how to give shape to this mapping work went hand in hand with lively chats about all the places we could and should visit.
Drawing the underground
Maps and map-making exercises predominantly served to locate mining sites in their wider environments. However, the main reason for people´s presence in this environment, gold, is located underground. This domain is largely out of view, except for those that (can) enter it. Typically, researchers have limited access to these domains and different ways of explaining what is located out of sight are needed. Here this is done by drawing underground spaces in the sand on the surface.
Capturing the underground
As part of our co-labouring efforts, miners created photo and video material of underground domains that were difficult to access by outsiders. These were usually discussed afterwards in small groups or one-to-one. In this case, Haruna Bashiru, a miner from northern Ghana operating a small underground mine, and Ebenezer Mannah, a miner from southern Ghana working in a large underground mine (though both fall under the category small-scale mining), went underground together. While traversing underground tunnels and creating visual material, they shared ideas and exchanged knowledge. Of course, they also documented each other during this joint experience.
Arriving above ground
After having been underground for some time, Ebenezer and Bashiru arrive above ground, breathing fresh air and being welcomed by group members. Clearly, they appreciated this joint experience.
Walking and mapping the route of ore
Besides documenting what is underground, team members also followed the pathways of miners and mined ore. While doing so, we took GPS coordinates as well as pictures. Importantly, we engaged in conversations amongst ourselves, but also with those working and living in the places we encountered. These different elements can be plotted on maps, creating images that combine views from below and from above and that offer insights about the spatial connections of mining environments.
New encounters with new and old friends
Crucially, our co-labouring work offered opportunities to create new relations, such as those between miners from different regions and between researchers and miners, because it facilitated the creation of shared experiences and moments of enjoyment. But in this case, new encounters with old friends also occurred: the picture to the right captures the moment where two old friends see each other again after almost 30 years.
Gold Matters: Kejetia Workshop, Exhibition and Art Installation
Co-Labouring in the field with miners was only part of the activities of the workshop. Nii Obodai’s video gives an artistic rendering of the range of activities over several days, which focused on organizing a photo exhibition, and co-labouring with residents of Kejetia in two art projects, culminating in the festive inauguration of the exhibition.
Co-Labouring in Art
Christophe and mining materials
In preparation for his co-labouring activities, Christophe expressed the wish to work with materials that serve a role in mining. Here, he is standing next to old drilling equipment, which would later become part of the installation.
1-2/5 Bags for carrying ore transformed into a canvas
Christophe and Zakari Imrana are cutting nine bags previously used by miners. The material was then stitched together to serve as cover for the art installation.
3/5 Negotiating wood and nails
At the start, it was slightly difficult to communicate clearly about intentions and to find common goals. There were negotiations over the purchase of wood, the nails and the bags. A carpenter had to be found to build the wooden structure with which to cover the bags.
4/5 Constructing the woodwork, resembling a mine
The carpenter helps to build the wood construction around which the bags will be tied. The enclosed wooden structure symbolizes a shaft.
1/7 Artistic plastering
For Christophe plastering houses resembles the plastering of the art installation. There is a fine line between daily crafts and art.
3/7 Plastering earthly matters
The start of plastering the artwork with a plaster made of a mixture of paint and local earth. This ties the artwork to earthly matters, but also strengthens a resemblance between the act of colourful painting of the bags and the way in which women paint their houses.
4/7 Colourful conversations
Arriving at the stage of painting, the installation work gained momentum: Christophe and the women discussed cheerfully the similarities between their artistic work of painting and plastering houses and the painting of the bags.
7/7 Co-Labouring a total work of art
Arriving at the stage of painting, the installation work gained momentum: Christophe and the women discussed cheerfully the similarities between their artistic work of painting and plastering houses and the painting of the bags.
Decorating the canvas
After painting – almost plastering – the whole surface of the bags, women and youth were invited to decorate the painted bags with figures symbolizing aspirations for futures of the community and for themselves.
1-10/10 Envisioning futures
The installation work features birds, rivers, plants and a group of cattle to highlight aspects of the environment, which require care and constitute a source of wealth.
6/10 Freedom on a bicycle
One young man drew a bicycle to express that the world would be better with free mobility.
The art installation: many meanings
Christophe overseeing the installation which not only resembles a shaft, but also a house due to the plastering, and even more: the signs evoke possible futures. As a whole the art installation symbolizes the mining world at large, showing interconnections between mining, agriculture, individual aspirations, and environmental concerns. Thumbs up!
1-3/5 Making of a monument
One solemn meaning remained to be added to the art installation. It should become a work to commemorate the miners who had died underground. The art work transformed into a monument by adding the helmet and the torch which one of the miners from the South of Ghana, Benjamin, had brought along when joining the Gold Matters workshop.
4/5 The Monument and festive opening of the Exhibition
After the art installation was fully accomplished, and the photo exhibition ready for its opening – it is time to celebrate, to eat, to drink, to dance.
5/5 Follow-up tribute to the Miners
At home after the workshop, Nii Obodai reworked a photo of a detail of the monument. In this act he emphasized the importance to continue to commemorate the miners who had died in the underground accident.
Photography Workshop With Bonsa Basic Academy
Goldminer Joe Danka came to Kejetia in 2000. On realizing there was no school available for the children in the community, he set his mind on building one. For nine years, Bonsa Basic Academy was the only school in the area. The Workshop was facilitated by Mabel Senaa, a photographer affiliated to Nuku Studio.
1/3 Three students were chosen from the senior class (JHS 1 and 3) to take part in a three-day photography workshop. The workshop was to introduce students in this community (Kejetia) to begin to learn how to use photography as a tool for communication and journaling and to realize the potential of visual storytelling.
2/3 Stephen Sawalbi (JHS 3), Sheila Danka (JHS 3) and Beatrice Annor Mensah (JHS 1) were given cameras to produce images of their community, giving us snapshots of daily life. Their combined perspectives produced engaging and honest viewpoints, photography without an agenda, of life in a precarious environment.
1/3 Bonsa Basic Academy
The school was established in 2000 in Gbane. Its mud walls have stood the test of time. Many of its past students are now professionals working in other parts of Ghana.
2/3 Time for a break
Senior students relaxing in their classroom during break time.
Bonsa Basic Academy’s neigbour: Shaanxi Mining Company
Shaanxi Mining is a Chinese managed mining company. It shares walls with Bonsa Basic Academy and it exposes the students to the movement of heavy machinery. The mine has experienced quite a few fatal underground accidents in the last few years.
Students hangout in a store front during lunch break
Open Street Food
Next to Bonsa Basic Academy, children from the school gather around a street food seller to buy their lunch meal.
Water Bodies and Environmental Pollution
Much of the remaining ground water and rivers have either dried up or are heavily polluted. Whatever natural sources of water is available to Gbane’s community is used for domestic needs and mining production and because water is a shared and scarce resource this adds to the health stresses of the community.
1-2/3 Co-labouring
The women and children are co-labouring to sort and wash ore brought up from the underground. It is not unusual to see women and their children working side by side.
3/3 Take a break
Miners eat and work on tailings.
Processing
Processing equipment and other mining facilities are often situated very close to community housing.
Photo Exhibition
Gold Matter team on the road
Members of the team, including three miners from the South of Ghana, journeyed to northern Ghana and started preparations in Bolgatanga, a regional centre some 20 kilometres from Kejetia.
Preparing for the exhibition
In Bolgatanga, materials were bought for the set-up of the exhibition. Making matters move is always an issue.
1/2 Setting the scene in Kejetia
Upon arrival, spaces in the courtyard of our host, Zakaria Imrana, had to be prepared and transformed into a museum site.
2/2 Pictures on a Wall
Photographer Mabel Seena is helped to prepare a wall for the black and white photographs of Nii Obodai.
From work place & hang out to exhibition space
An important part of the exhibition would take place in the area where Zakari normally receives friends, but also stocks the ore that is coming from his pits. The space had to be ‘refurbished’.
Pictures on the Floor
A floorplan was needed to make decisions as to how the photographs would be hung on the line.
Picturing mining friendships
Benjamin Ampiah, a miner working in the south of Ghana, joined the workshop. He had worked in Kejetia in the 1990’s and here he is catching up with old acquaintances.
Big mama cooking
Food would be vital for the celebration of the opening of the exhibition. Big Mama, a leading figure in a group of women whose work it is to process gold ore, volunteered to do the cooking for all the visitors who would attend the exhibition.
What else needs to be done?
Robert and Sabine are catching up. Sabine is just back from a shopping tour with one of the women, Lamisi Yaliwaa. They purchased all the ingredients for the meal. Robert has been involved in a walk with miners discussing the way in which mining in Kejetia is inserted in the landscape.
Portrait of a man with his Portrait
Zakari has been a longtime collaborator with several members of the Gold Matters team. He is pleased with the photograph we took of him during a previous visit. The photo will get a good place in the exhibition space.
Two men on a Mission
Ebenezer Knight Mannah and Anthony Acquah, both from Tarkwa, joined the workshop in Kejetia. They just returned from the walking tour with Kejetia miners and are happy to see that the organization of the exhibition is going well. So, time for another picture.
Big Mama, Big Talk
The women who, the day before, had been involved in creating the Art Installation with the painter Christophe Sawadogo have arrived to attend to the opening of the exhibition. Big Mama explains what will happen. Shortly, dinner will be served.
Women waiting for the show
The opening was scheduled for late in the day because most men and women would be working the whole day. Some of the women are still dusty from work at the crusher or the grinding mill.
A museum wall
The wall also seems to be in waiting. The time for an audience to arrive and watch is approaching fast. Soon the women, the schoolkids, and the men will be taking a good look at the pictures of the exhibition.
Another angle on the same scene
Cutting the rope
Here our hosts, Zakari and Lamisi, engage in the formal opening of the exhibition. This is a moment of ritual acts, speeches and - of course - taking pictures.
Time for a meal
Big Mama and Lamisi are ready to serve the plates to all the visitors. Who should be served first; the strangers (the Gold Matters team), or the residents of Kejetia? Zakari insisted that the strangers should get a share first. A bit embarrassed, the Gold Matters team obliged. Fortunately, there was food and drinks in abundance.
Food first, Art later
The sharing of food was an important moment at the opening. It signifies social ties, but it is also key after a hard day’s work.
The exhibition in full flow
The teacher, Alfred King Sharpston - known to everyone as Nana - and the pupils of his school are touring the exhibition. Nana has been a miner in the past. He is telling the pupils about his mining life and the importance to make good choices for your own future and for the environment.
Do look now!
Comparing mining practices
Two young residents of Kejetia show a keen interest in mining technologies elsewhere: the excavator in the background, and center stage the wooden structure for a new shaft. What can we learn, how does it compare to mining in Kejetia?
A circle of attention
Women from Kejetia are looking at mining scenes in the Amazon: a view from above showing a curling river with mining operations and another photo portrays a miner standing in the water to support the dredging. Enormous differences: Here the women are crushing in the dry dust, there the work is all in the water.
Watching a road scene
Schoolkids of the private school in Kejetia bring their own chairs to school. Would it not be great to sit on a quad and take a ride in the rainforest of the Amazon?
What do we see here?
Robert Pijpers discussing some photos with the schoolkids. What do they see, what do they know? What does Robert see, what does he know?
Girl with a Gaze
This girl is particularly interested in the photo from Uganda, showing a sophisticated cyanidation site.
Portrait of a working woman
This woman came straight from her processing site to the exhibition space. Most likely tired and maybe a bit grumpy. Still the conversation with her showed that she enjoyed the new impressions and the sharing of knowledge.
A Balance on the Wall
The photo of the gold balance attracted attention. The balance is the symbol of the Gold Matters project: it underscores how mining is a balancing act between different social interests, as well as between social and environmental concerns. The small kid has a different focus. He recognizes a familiar face: “Hey look, this is Zakari”.
A view to remember
The photo captures the moment just before the cutting of the rope. Everyone has joined for the opening of the exhibition. In front, the Monument to commemorate the miners who died while working underground.
