Osuanyi Quaicoo Essel, University of Education Winneba, Ghana
Reimaging Communal and National Identities and Memory-making in Public Sculptures of Winneba
The Effutu Municipality, in the Central Region of Ghana has seemingly become an artistic spectacle due to the presence of some monumental picturesque sculptural forms mounted at vantage sites. The sites include Winneba Junction Roundabout, Abasraba Traffic Light (near Ansarudeen Basic School), Heritage Centre (at Cupa Junction, near GCB Bank), Akosua Village, and the Fish Market at the Shores.
This study analyses fifteen aesthetical commentaries from Art Education master’s students on these public sculptures to find out how they reimaged communal and national identities and memory-making. The fifteen respondents were asked to select any of the five public sculptures of their choice and render in not less than 1000 words, an analytical aesthetic discourse aimed at public art education about the works.
It was evident that the sculptural composition of Kwame Nkrumah and J. B. Danquah (at Winneba Junction Roundabout) which centre on the theme of reconciliation, and sculpture at Heritage Centre (Cupa Junction, near GCB Bank) themed on the popular Aboakyer festival attracted the respondents to rendered aesthetic commentaries on them due to their culturally nuanced identities in the history of the Effutu people and historical roots and associated narratives in memory lane of Ghana.