Mr. Akolgo, Ayine

Mr. Akolgo, Ayine

LECTURER

	0243585309
	ak.ayine@gmail.com
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Profile

Publications

Biography

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PROFILE _ Ayine Akolgo

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Ayine Akolgo is an early career academic, lecturer, art enthusiast, critic, curator, and disability rights activist, passionate about knowledge production and social transformation. He is a PhD candidate at the Institute of African Studies, University of Ghana, where he is researching on, "Representations of persons with disabilities in the visual arts over the life course: A study of selected visual artists and artworks from Ghana and Nigeria". He also has a Master of Philosophy (MPhil) in African Studies and a Bachelor of Arts (BA) in Sociology, with a minor in the Study of Religions, both from the University of Ghana.

Mr. Akolgo is a lecturer at the Centre for African Studies, University of Education, Winneba. He has experience in both the public and private sectors, having worked as a senior curator at the Bolgatanga Regional Museum and as a project coordinator in the NGO sector.

Mr. Akolgo was a 2023 Smithsonian Predoctoral Research Fellow, at the National Museum of African Art, Washington DC, between August 12th and December 20th 2023. He was also a 2023 Queen Elizabeth Advanced Scholars West Africa (QES-AS-WA). He is a Fellow of the Life Course Transitions and Trajectories of Persons with Disabilities in West African Societies (LICOT-WASO). He was also a beneficiary of the Andrew Mellon African Urbanism Project on Entanglement, Mobility & Improvisation project, and the Mwalimu Nyerere African Union Scholarship for persons with disabilities. He was also a Community Xchange participant between Bolgatanga and Plymouth, UK, a professional development program for community leaders, activists, and workers, managed by the British Council and VSO.

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ARTIST STATEMENT

***************************************************************************************************************************************************************Ayine is a visual artist (painting and graphic designing), academic, disability rights activist, and curator. His body (deformed) is a reference from which he engages in self-representation, communicating messages in catchy phrases and colourful graphics (known as YineKotes) that aim at challenging stereotypical disability (mis)representations, under-representations, no-representations, and (mis)representations of other minority voices. As a keen observer of social reality, he critiques everyday sociocultural, political, and economic issues. He also motivates, mentors and engages in active social media activism.

He has organised and curated several exhibitions, conducted a few curatorial reviews and has been on one 6-month arts research fellowship at the National Museum of African Art, Washington DC and one art residency organised by CritLab.

Below are key highlights of his practice and engagements:

=> 27th – 28th March 2024, Exhibition: Art as Therapy and Art as Psychotherapy in African Societies.” At the 7th Biennial Social Sciences Conference 2024, University of Education, Winneba.

=> August 12 – December 20, 2024, Research Stay: At the National Museum of African Art, Washington DC. Participated in Exhibition installation, observed storage, archives, conservation laboratory and activities, registry and gallery spaces. Visited and observed over 8 other museums and exhibitions at the Smithsonian.

=> 1st – 15th November 2022, CritLab Art Residency and exhibition: A 15-day art residency and professional development programme focused on grooming a network of art professionals who envision pushing the boundaries of global art thought, production, criticism, and exhibition making. CritLab is spearheaded by Exit Frame Ghana as an annual peer-to-peer pedagogical project to broaden the critical intellectual infrastructure of professional art practice in Ghana.

=> May 2020, Exhibition Review: Time and trends through the photographic lenses of James Barnor. Photographic exhibition at Nukuke Foundation, Accra.

=> May 2015, Exhibition Review: Kuduo – Gold Weights or Brass Works? A Permanent Exhibition in 2008 at the Institute of African Studies Museum of the University of Ghana.

=> January 2010, Exhibition: Co-curated temporary exhibition on Chieftaincy Regalia of selected chiefs of Upper East Region, Bolgatanga Regional Museum.

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Mr. Akolgo belongs to a couple of professional bodies, including the African Studies Association (ASA), the American Anthropological Association (AAA), the Arts Council of the African Studies Association (ACASA), and the African Studies Association of the United Kingdom (ASAUK)

Mr. Akolgo is a founding member and Executive Secretary of the Board of Directors of Witty Minds Foundation, an NGO duly registered and operating in Bolgatanga in the Upper East Region, with a vision to inspire, mentor, and raise smart youth leaders in their fields of endeavor to pursue unquenchable and transformative progress and prosperity. He is also the Board Secretary of Disability not Inability Foundation (DNIF), an NGO in Accra that helps people with diverse forms of disabilities to acquire knowledge and skills through education, training, and entrepreneurship.