The 2019 Venice Biennale hosted Ghana’s first national pavilion, an exhibition titled Ghana Freedom that Nana Oforiatta Ayim curated to challenge the historic dominance of European institutions. A writer, art historian, and filmmaker, she draws upon her upbringing across Germany, England, and Ghana to develop new paradigms for African artistic production, museums, and historical documentation.
Academic and Professional Foundation
Born in 1980, Oforiatta Ayim holds a background in political science and the arts. She studied Russian and politics at the University of Bristol and worked in the Department of Political Affairs at the United Nations in New York. Later, she completed a master's degree in African Art History at the SOAS University of London, where she identified a reliance on Western concepts for describing Ghanaian cultural expression.
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Seeking indigenous alternatives to colonial museum models, Oforiatta Ayim developed the ANO Institute of Arts & Knowledge in Accra. She created a pan-African Cultural Encyclopaedia, an open-source platform intended to span 54 volumes. Her research into mobile museums aims to preserve material culture in ways that reflect local traditions rather than the static display methods common in European institutions.
Writing and Filmmaking
Her debut novel, The God Child, was published in the UK in 2019, followed by US and German releases. The work explores the Afro-German experience and the intersections of history, art, and literature. Her filmmaking career began through collaboration on a translation of the 1954 film Statues Also Die. Her own films, including Nowhere Else But Here and Tied and True, have screened at institutions like the Tate Modern and LACMA.
Fast facts
- Born: 1980, Ghana
- Citizenship: Ghana
- Notable work: Ghana Freedom
- Award: Dan David Prize (2022)
- Education: University of London
- Occupations: Writer, art historian, film director, novelist
Questions readers ask
What is the ANO Institute of Arts & Knowledge?
It is an institute founded by Oforiatta Ayim in Accra to provide new context and paradigms for artistic production within Africa.
Which notable exhibition did she curate in 2019?
She curated Ghana Freedom, which served as the first-ever national pavilion for Ghana at the Venice Biennale.
Achievements
- Dan David Prize — 2022
- Notable work: Ghana Freedom
