Receiving a Develop Your Creative Practice Grant from Arts Council England means that I can spend dedicated time exploring new ideas.

As a creative person it’s an incredible opportunity, to try out new ideas, experiment with different techniques and not have any pressure to produce an end result within a certain timeframe. I’m so excited to make the most of this time in my studio. I’ve been drawing together my past ideas and projects and following the threads of research that have fascinated me all my life.

Adinkra Symbols

The Adinkra Symbols from Ghana will play a large part of the new work I’m developing. I am of Ghanaian and British heritage and I first came across Adinkra symbols when I was a teenager and I was immediately fascinated. They are ancient symbols, originally used in Ghana on ceremonial robes and for funerals. There are hundreds of symbols and they all have different meanings which I have been researching in-depth.

I’ve already begun making some test tiles and have really been enjoying drawing and carving the symbols.

I’ll go more in depth into the origins and meanings of the Adinkra symbols I’m using in later posts, but for now I want to share an overview of the Ancestral Wisdom Project.

Ancestral Wisdom Grief Shrine

I’m creating an Ancestral Wisdom Grief Shrine and plan to facilitate rituals and ceremonies to help people express their grief and loss in a safe and supportive communal environment.

An underlying theme of my work is about memories both personal and ancestral. I am looking to the strengths in my cross cultural heritage to create this new body of work inspired, in part, by a Grief Ritual I took part in many years ago with Sobonfu Some of the Dagara tribe from west Africa. The Grief rituals are a regular and essential part of life because until you honour the grief, loss and pain it can remain stuck.

I intend to create a space for people to be able to pause and reflect on the deeper meaning of their lives and consider their own ancestral links. A collective and supported outpouring of grief as a means of healing the community.

I have experience of working with the arts and mental health and have always instinctively used my creative practice as a way to navigate difficult times in my life. I want to create a sacred space to provide an immersive experience for participants to explore their grief through art, ritual, sound and movement.

Over the next few months I’ll be sharing the progress of the new and experimental work I’m creating and I hope you’ll follow along and enjoy the journey.

You can sign up below to the Studio Diary emails which I’ll be sending out especially for the Ancestral Wisdom Project.

Yes! send me Ancestral Wisdom updates