Joseph Kossivi Ahiator

Joseph Kossivi Ahiator (born 1956) is an African politician and Ghanaian artist known for his temple mural paintings in Bénin, Ghana, and Togo.^[1] He is a member of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) and a former Member of Parliament for the Ketu South Constituency in the Volta Region of Ghana.^{[citation needed]}

Biography

Joseph Kossivi Ahiator was born in 1956 in Aflao, Ghana. His primary focus in the concepts of his artwork are the ocean, as well as the Mami Wata spirit, Indian Spirits, and other Vodu Gods that come from and are connected to the sea.^[2] He believes his interest in the sea derives from his frequent visits to India and the fact that he was born with Indian spirits from the Mami Wata pantheon. Due to this, many of his temple paintings can have the same figures or imagery that demonstrate the link between India, Africa, and the seas. Dan Aida Wedo, the rainbow serpent Vodu is one reoccurring spirit.^[2]

Career

Politics

Joseph Kossivi Ahiator is currently a member of the National Democratic Congress (NDC). He was formerly a member of Parliament for the Ketu South Constituency in the Volta Region of Ghana from 2009-2017. In addition, he was the Minister of state in charge of tertiary education from 2009-2013.^{[citation needed]}

Art

Ahiator's Vodun imagery and content can be seen as a reflection of globalization seeing as it demonstrates the connection between India and Africa. Although the artist feels a personal spiritual connection between the two, his art is symbolic of the connection between cultures through tangible things like cloth consumption, and the trading networks of south Asian merchants that allowed for a literal connection, and therefore a spiritual one.^[3]

Artworks

"India Spirits" 1996

This wall mural piece made with reference to Hindu chromolithographs features Dan Aida Wedo, the rainbow serpent vodu, arching over the entire top to encapsulate Indian inspired imagery as well as Mami Wata spirits to signify a unification or joining. The qualities of the rainbow serpent vodu that he chose to demonstrate this are meaningful because Dan Aida Wedo is regenerative and full of life.^[4]

"King of Mami Wata" 2005^[5]

This artwork was inspired by a dream as well as a print that Ahiator had seen in the past. He dreamt he was swimming with an Indian king spirit that had nineteen heads and his queen who had nine heads. He named the King in his dream the King of Mami Wata and the queen he named NaKrishna. He had also seen an Indian print with a nineteen headed spirit in 1977 that served as inspiration for his work. This piece was a commission for Dana Rush and was painted on cloth.^[6]

"Maman Tchamba and Tchamba Temple Mural" 1970^[7]

This piece placed near Lomé, Togo was Ahiator's first of many Tchamba temple murals in Benin, Ghana, and Togo. This one features an image of a Maman Tchamba and a Tchamba; a mother with a bowl of kola nuts being handed off to her son. These nuts were commonly known to suppress hunger, thirst, and fatigue and served as a symbol of the northern Muslims.^[8]

Exhibitions

Joseph Kossivi Ahiator's work is mainly temple paintings, so many of his works could be considered as public exhibitions; however, the artist does not have record of official public exhibitions.

Collections

Ahiator's work, "Indian King of Mami Wata", is currently in possession of the Fowler Museum at UCLA

Many beautiful Tchamba temple murals still stand to be seen scattered art all throughout Benin, Togo, and Ghana

References

Citations

^ Unpacking the New: Critical Perspectives on Cultural Syncretization in Africa and Beyond. LIT Verlag Münster. 2008. p. 212. ISBN 978-3-8258-0719-1.
^ ^a ^b "Mami Wata", Encyclopedia of African Religion, 2455 Teller Road, Thousand Oaks California 91320 United States: SAGE Publications, Inc., 2009, doi:10.4135/9781412964623.n256, ISBN 9781412936361, retrieved 2023-12-10{{citation}}: CS1 maint: location (link)
^ "Africa Research - 2011 Writer Of The Year". www.africaresearch.org. Retrieved 2023-12-10.
^ "Mami Wata", Encyclopedia of African Religion, 2455 Teller Road, Thousand Oaks California 91320 United States: SAGE Publications, Inc., 2009, doi:10.4135/9781412964623.n256, ISBN 9781412936361, retrieved 2023-12-03{{citation}}: CS1 maint: location (link)
^ "X2005.5.1 Indian King of Mami Wata". Fowler Museum. Archived from the original on 26 June 2015. Retrieved 24 June 2015.
^ Dana, Rush. "In Remembrance of Slavery: Tchamba Vodun". African Diaspora Archaeology Newsletter. 14.
^ Bellagamba, Alice; Greene, Sandra E.; Klein, Martin A. (13 May 2013). African Voices on Slavery and the Slave Trade: Volume 1, The Sources. Cambridge University Press. p. 170. ISBN 978-0-521-19470-9.
^ Rush, Dana. "The idea of "India" in west African Vodun art and thought". University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

Sources

Adjibodou, Venise Nichole. Everyday Vodun: Materiality, Affect, and Knowledge in Southern Benin. University of Pennsylvania, 2018.
- This source provides information about the Tchamba culture and interpreting murals
Adogame, Afeosemime Unuose; Echtler, Magnus; Vierke, Ulf (2008). Unpacking the New: Critical Perspectives on Cultural Syncretization in Africa and Beyond. LIT Verlag Münster. p. 212. ISBN 978-3-8258-0719-1
Bellagamba, Alice; Greene, Sandra E.; Klein, Martin A. (13 May 2013). African Voices on Slavery and the Slave Trade: Volume 1, The Sources. Cambridge University Press. p. 170. ISBN 978-0-521-19470-9
Charles, et al. Crossing Borders in African Literatures. Handel Books, 2015.
Drewal, Henry J. Local Transformations, Global Inspirations The Visual Histories and Cultures of Mami Wata Arts in Africa. 2nd ed., ResearchGate, 2013.
- Journal provides a brief explanation behind the inspiration for "Indian King of Mami Wata".
Drewal, Henry John. “Mami Wata: Arts for Water Spirits in Africa and Its Diasporas.” African Arts, vol. 41, no. 2, 2008, pp. 60–83. JSTOR 20447886 Accessed 2 Nov. 2023.
- This journal provides a background on the art that Ahiator is interested in: the interconnectedness of the ocean and spirits from Africa and India.
Frank, Barbara. “Permitted and Prohibited Wealth: Commodity-Possessing Spirits, Economic Morals, and the Goddess Mami Wata in West Africa.” Ethnology, vol. 34, no. 4, 1995, pp. 331–46. doi:10.2307/3773945 Accessed 2 Nov. 2023.
- This source provides a background on Mami Wata culture.
Hawley, John C. India in Africa, Africa in India: Indian Ocean Cosmopolitanisms Borders in African Literatures. Indiana University Press, 2008.
Miller, Joseph C. (18 January 2015). The Princeton Companion to Atlantic History. Princeton University Press. p. 318. ISBN 978-1-4008-5221-5
Roy, Anjali Gera. "Writer of the Year JAL, No. 8, 2011."'
- Article about Dana Rush, who specializes in the incorporation of India through chromolithographic images into the religious system of Vodun. Includes some information about the artist in relation to the author.
Rush, Dana. "In remembrance of slavery: Tchamba Vodun arts." African Arts, vol. 44, no. 1, spring 2011, pp. 40+. Gale Literature Resource Center, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A252632138/LitRC?u=anon~7259b14d&sid=googleScholar&xid=b4445804. Accessed 1 Nov. 2023.
- This article provides some background on the vodun complex
Rush, Dana. "GLOBAL MAMI:“INDIA” AND MAMI WATA IN WEST AFRICAN VODU."
- This is an article with a large exert on Joseph Kossivi Ahiator that coves some basic biography and its published by the University of Illinois so it should be a reliable source.
Rush, Dana. "In Remembrance of Slavery: Tchamba Vodun." African Diaspora Archaeology Newsletter 14.2 (2011): 1.
- Article contains brief explanation of the artist's artwork and several pictures of pieces he has done
Rush, Dana. "The Idea of ‘India’ in West African Vodun Art and Thought." India in Africa, Africa in India: Indian Ocean Cosmopolitanisms (2008): 149-180.
- Background on vodun and Mami Wata and connection with Africa