Percy Nii Nortey

During my residency at Saari, I plan to connect with the local community by sharing my art practice and engaging in an exchange focused on their daily activities, occupations, and crafts. This connection, much like the one I cultivate with the local proletariat in Ghana, is essential to my work. I’m particularly curious about how local craft techniques can merge with my artistic practices. Through a collaborative workshop, I envision a space where two labor backgrounds merge—the labour of craft-making of the local people in Saari is integrated into the strained fabric from the labour of the proletariat in Ghana—highlighting labor’s significance and fostering meaningful connections and exchange.

Nortey’s work deeply reflects his personal history and the environmental and economic conditions of Ghana. His art centers on themes of identity, materiality, memory and labour of the proletariat. He creates paintings and sculptural objects using second-hand stained fabrics and clothing, inspired by the daily activities of the proletariat and discarded machines. His practice aims to decolonize minds and empower black communities by reclaiming their narratives and identities. Nortey’s work has been exhibited at various cultural events and shows, such as the Kunstenfestivaldesarts in Brussels, the Brazil House – James Town, Chale Wote Art Festival in Accra.