A Ghanaian Artist Brought a Boat to Miami Art Basel

Boats are pretty commonplace in Miami, but not usually in a hotel lobby. At the most recent Art Basel Miami, the Ritz Carlton installed ‘The Bodies Left Behind,’ a thought-provoking work by Ghanaian artist, Serge Attukwei Clottey, the core of which was a large boat. Strewn with the detritus of travelers, the piece meant to explore issues of migration and its impact on communities and the environment. With this exhibition Clottey really wanted to show how industrial brands affect Africa on a larger scale, observed from an African perspective. “When westerners visit Africa, they are the ones that loot and pollute the ocean, leaving things like Nike shoes, rubber, trash in the ocean, which doesn’t help our environment. It’s meaningful to me because I realized I can use this moment and exhibition to show people in this luxurious space how they affect our country, using it as a conversation starter so they become aware that we are aware. With awareness, we can start to create change.”

SOURCE: OKAYAFRICA