Ben Uri: Audio Adventures

Annan Affotey

Atta Kwami was born in Accra, Ghana in 1956, studying painting at the University of Science and Technology (KNUST) and later earning a PhD in art history from the Open University, Milton Keynes, England in 2007. Kwami is best known for his abstract artworks rooted in the vibrant urban landscape of Kumasi, with the patterns in his paintings informed by the creations of local street artists seen on...

Emefa Cole was born to a Ga mother and an Ewe and Ga-Dangbe father in Sunyani, West-Central Ghana in 1979, and immigrated to London with her family aged 12. Having studied jewellery making in London, she has now established a successful and progressive brand in the UK, dedicated to experimental yet wearable art. In 2022 she was appointed the V&A's first curator of diaspora jewellery. Liste...

Godfried Donkor was born in Kumasi, Ghana in 1964, moving to London, England in 1973. He completed a a BA in Fine Art at Central Saint Martins (1984–89) and subsequently attended postgraduate courses in  Spain, before completing an MA in African Art History at SOAS (School of Oriental and African Studies), University of London (1995). Donkor is best known for his collages exploring the socio-histo...

James Barnor was born in Accra, Gold Coast (now Ghana) in 1929. He established Ever Young, his first studio, in 1953, producing iconic portraits that captured a nation striving for modernity and independence. He moved to England in 1959 to study colour photography at the Colour Processing Laboratories (CPL) in Edenbridge in Kent and then enrolled at Medway College of Art in Rochester. Barnor is no...

John Akomfrah OBE, CBE was born in Accra, Ghana in 1957 and immigrated to the UK with his family in 1966, following the Ghanaian coup by the National Liberation Council (NLC). He studied sociology at Portsmouth Polytechnic, graduating in 1982; in the same year he co-founded the Black Audio Film Collective, followed by Smoking Dogs Films in 1998. His work investigates memory, post-colonialism, temp...

Kojo Marfo was born in Kwahu Tafo, Ghana, in 1980. He immigrated to London in the early 2000s to pursue higher education in the arts but did not complete his formal studies. He is a largely self-taught artist who is now established as a painter exploring themes of spirituality, injustice and womanhood, mixing Akan and Western styles. Listen to his story here or read the full biography on the BURU:...

Larry Amponsah was born in 1989 in Accra, Ghana, earned his BFA in painting from Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology in 2015, an MFA in Chinese traditional painting and calligraphy from Jiangsu University in 2016, and an MA in painting from the Royal College of Art, London in 2018. Inspired initially by Ghanian calendars, which are usually layered one upon the other, Amponsah works...

Oku Ampofo was born in Mampong, Gold Coast (now Ghana) in 1908. In 1932 he became the first Ghanaian to win the Gold Coast Government Medical Scholarship. Ampofo subsequently moved to Edinburgh, Scotland in 1933 and studied medicine at the University of Edinburgh, while taking night classes in sculpture at Edinburgh School of Art. Returning to Ghana in 1940 he founded the Akuapem Six, a group of a...

Eric Estorick was born into a Jewish family in Brooklyn, New York City in 1913, studying sociology at New York University. After his marriage to textile designer Salome Dessau, the couple settled in London in 1947, where Estorick built one of the world's greatest collections of early 20th-century Italian art. Shortly before his death, he founded the Eric and Salome Estorick Foundation to house...

Eugénie Shinkle was born in Montréal, Canada in 1963. After initial studies in Engineering, she immigrated to London, England in 1997 to undertake her PhD at the Slade School of Fine Art. She has subsequently established herself as a photographer and academic. Listen to her story here or read the full biography on the BURU: https://www.buru.org.uk/contributor/eugenie-shinkle

Lubna Chowdhary was born to Pakistani parents in Tanzania in 1964. Her family moved to England in 1970, after which she trained at Manchester Metropolitan University and London's Royal College of Art. Her colourful ceramics address themes of urbanisation, belonging and material culture, and have been exhibited widely. Listen to his story here or read the full biography on the BURU: https://www...

Lubaina Himid was born in Zanzibar (modern-day Tanzania) in 1954; following the death of her father, she immigrated to the UK at the age of four months with her mother, a textile designer. She studied Theatre Design at Wimbledon College of Art, followed by an MA in Cultural History from the Royal College of Art, London, and curated the seminal exhibition, 'The Thin Black Line', at the ICA...

Farwa Moledina was born in 1993 in Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania and moved to England in 2010 from Dubai, United Arab Emirates. She studied Fine Art at Birmingham School of Art (c.2015–18) and is currently based in Birmingham. She creates work which addresses multiculturalism, the white male gaze, voyeurism and representations of Muslim women in both art history and contemporary culture. Listen to his s...

David Adjaye was born in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania in 1966 and moved to Britain with his family in 1975. After graduating from London South Bank University and the Royal College of Art in London, he quickly established his own practice, Adaye Associates, designing many notable public buildings around the world, including the Museum of Contemporary Art in Denver, USA and the Nobel Peace Centre in Osl...

Anne Berthoud was born in 1942 in Basel, Switzerland and is of half-English descent. In 1979, she opened her eponymous Anne Berthoud Gallery in central London, where a number of renowned British and émigré artists presented their work. Notable exhibitors have included: Frank Auerbach, Peter Kinley, Bridget Riley, and ceramicist, Magdalene Odundo, who held her first solo show the Gallery. Berthoud...

Alfred Flechtheim was born into a Jewish mercantile family in Münster, Germany in 1878. He was educated in Switzerland and established galleries in Düsseldorf, Berlin, Frankfurt, Cologne and Vienna. In order to escape Nazi persecution, in 1933 he moved to London, where he organised successful exhibitions of French impressionist and avant-garde artists for many renowned galleries. Listen to his sto...

Jack Bilbo was born Hugo Cyril Kulp Baruch into a Jewish family in Berlin, Germany in 1907; he fled to England in 1936. Interned in Onchan camp (Isle of Man) he organised art exhibitions in his 'cabin', visited by 1500 internees, afterwards establishing the Modern Art Gallery in London as a platform ‘against Hitlerism’, which became a vital meeting place for émigré artists, including Kurt...

Part of the audio guide produced for Ben Uri Gallery 2015 Centenary.

Part of the audio guide produced for Ben Uri Gallery 2015 Centenary.

Part of the audio guide produced for Ben Uri Gallery 2015 Centenary.

Part of the audio guide produced for Ben Uri Gallery 2015 Centenary.

Part of the audio guide produced for Ben Uri Gallery 2015 Centenary.

Part of the audio guide produced for Ben Uri Gallery 2015 Centenary.

Part of the audio guide produced for Ben Uri Gallery 2015 Centenary.