AmandaBoachie and EkowBarnes
on Reimagining Ghana
This conversation marks the rebeginning of Reimagining Ghana. We begin where the project itself begun: with questions.
July 2026
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What does Reimagining Ghana mean to you?
Amanda Boachie
Reimagining Ghana is an invitation to think. It began in response to Paul Strand’s Ghana: An African Portrait, but over time it’s become a way of approaching a much bigger question. People often assume the project is trying to reimagine a country, and I don’t think that’s something any modest project can do.
What interests me is creating a space where the creative and curious can spend time thinking about what Ghana has been, what it is, and what it could become. I don’t think Reimagining Ghana is looking for a definitive answer. It’s asking whether art/words can help us imagine new ways of seeing a place we’ve perhaps become too familiar with, inherited ideas about without ever questioning, or know nothing about at all.
Ekow Barnes
Reimagining Ghana means looking beyond the familiar narratives and allowing ourselves to see Ghana through new possibilities. It is about honoring our history and culture while creating space for new ideas, new voices, and new ways of expressing who we are.
It challenges us to ask: what can Ghana become when we place creativity, innovation, and our people at the centre of the story?
What would you like to see reimagined?
Amanda
The everyday. I'm interested in the everyday being reimagined—the ordinary things we might overlook becoming the things that catch our attention. There is meaning in daily life, in gestures, objects and routines, and I think artists have a way of asking us to look again at what has become familiar.
Ekow
I’d like to see our perception of Ghana reimagined both locally and globally. I’d like to see more stories that highlight our creativity, complexity, everyday experiences, and future possibilities. Beyond the traditional images often associated with Ghana, I want to see the depth of our people, our cities, our young creators, our thinkers, and our dreamers represented.
What is the first object you think of when you think about Ghana?
Amanda
Photographs. I’ve inherited a lot of photographs from family members. I strongly associate Ghana with photographs and with the act of passing images between generations. They are part of how Ghana has been remembered and shared within my family.
Ekow
The first object that comes to mind is Kente cloth. It represents much more than beauty; it carries history, identity, craftsmanship, and meaning. Every pattern and colour tells a story, reminding us that Ghana’s culture has always been a language of creativity and expression.
What images of Ghana are still missing?
Ekow
I think we have sometimes been limited by images that only show one side of Ghana—beautiful landscapes, traditional ceremonies, or stories of struggle. While those images are part of our reality, they do not fully capture who we are. I’d like to see more images of contemporary Ghana: our artists, entrepreneurs, technology, architecture, fashion, music, and the everyday lives of people shaping the future.
What draws you to the way artists see the world?
Amanda
I’m drawn to artists who make us look again. They can take something ordinary, familiar or seemingly mundane and show us that there is another way to understand it. I’m interested in people who notice things that others might pass by, and who are able to translate that attention into work. There is something compelling about encountering a way of seeing that could only have come from that particular person.
Ekow
Artists have the ability to notice what others overlook. They question, interpret, and transform ordinary moments into something meaningful. I’m drawn to the way artists challenge us to see ourselves and our surroundings differently.
Do you think artists owe audiences explanations?
Amanda
I’m not sure that artists owe audiences an explanation. An artist can simply make the work and the work can stand on its own. But I personally enjoy understanding how an artist thinks. I’m interested in the worldview behind the work, the questions they are asking and the experiences that have shaped their way of seeing. Whether an audience should expect an explanation from an artist is a question of entitlement.
There is something special about understanding how someone responds artistically to the world around them. It does not mean that everything has to be explained or made digestible for the audience, but I think hearing an artist speak about their thinking can open up another way into the work.
Ekow
I believe artists owe audiences honesty and intention, but not always explanations. Art has the power to exist beyond words. Sometimes the most powerful works are those that invite people to reflect, question, and create their own relationship with what they experience.
What’s an interesting conversation happening amongst artists in Ghana?
Ekow
One of the most interesting conversations is about ownership of our narratives—how Ghanaian artists can tell authentic stories while engaging with global audiences. There is also a growing conversation around preserving heritage while pushing boundaries, creating work that is deeply rooted in Ghana but speaks universally.
When you spend time with an artist whose work stays with you, what have they understood?
Amanda
I think they have understood that their way of seeing the world is particular to them. No two people think in exactly the same way, and no two people have precisely the same experience. The artists whose work stays with me seem to understand that their perspective is not something they need to flatten or make more universal.
Even when their work is informed by communal ideas, history or shared experience, there is still something very individual in how they interpret those things. They have honed their own way of thinking.
That is often what makes me think: what a way of seeing the world. What a way of thinking about life, people or the human experience.
Ekow
The artists whose work stays with me usually understand something fundamental about being human. They understand identity, emotion, memory, struggle, joy, and connection. They understand themselves enough to be honest, they understand people enough to create empathy, and they understand the world enough to question it.
What questions do you hope our audience leaves with?
Amanda
I hope they leave asking themselves: What thoughts has this project provoked in me, and what can I do with them?
I’d like Reimagining Ghana to inspire some form of action, however small. Not necessarily another project of the same scale, but perhaps a decision to look more closely, research something, make something, speak to someone or return to an idea they had set aside.
To reimagine a nation—or anything complex—is not something that happens quickly. It takes time, attention and people. I hope the project encourages others to think about what they themselves might choose to reimagine, and how they might begin.
Ekow
I would hope they leave asking: Who gets to tell Ghana’s story? What possibilities have we not yet imagined? How can we preserve where we come from while creating where we want to go? Most importantly, I would hope they leave seeing Ghana not as a fixed idea, but as a living, evolving story still being written.