Art and the Power of Goodness: A Collection of John Agyekum Kufuor, Ivor Agyeman-Duah

Abstract

Reviewed by: Art and the Power of Goodness: A Collection of John Agyekum Kufuor by Ivor Agyeman-Duah Nana Abena Amoah-Ramey BOOK REVIEW of Agyeman-Duah, Ivor. 2021. Art and the Power of Goodness: A Collection of John Agyekum Kufuor. Tema: Digibooks Ghana. 208 pp. $34.07 (hardcover). Art and the Power of Goodness: A Collection of John Agyekum Kufuor has been expertly authored by Ivor Agyeman-Duah, a Ghana-born development specialist who specializes in economics, international development cooperation, and literary histories. He is a well-known producer of documentaries, including the documentary series Yaa Asantewaa: The Heroism of an [End Page 135] African Queen and The Return of a King to Seychelles. He was on the BBC and PBS team that produced Wonders of the African World, a documentary presented by Henry Louis Gates Jr. of Harvard University. Agyeman-Duah accepts that art has been a feature of Africa’s culture from time immemorial and adds in his introduction that “art has always been part of Africa’s power exhibitions”; for example, carved stools and chairs meant for palaces, household elders, family heads, and individuals “could be classified as institutional or leadership art” (1). Embedded in African art are other aspects of culture, science, and social information; and visual images document and communicate events. Agyeman-Duah quotes Amoah Labi, an art historian at the Institute of African Studies, University of Ghana, Legon, as affirming in 2013 that “African art has always been important icons, embodiments of aesthetic expression, representations of cultural values and records of history” (390). Gordon Brown, a former British prime minister, in his foreword, offers compelling reflections on the beauty of the “selected art collections and the telling companion” (x). He suggests that the accompanying essays provide a vivid account of the taste and history of art. Agyeman-Duah confirms that Ghana’s former president Kufuor is “an art enthusiast, who appreciates music composition, visual expression, and photography” (18). He cites Kufuor’s achievements and accomplishments in collecting art as seen in a selection of more than seventy artworks in Kufuor’s “unintended gallery in a double-chamber space” (20). Inside this gallery, where Kufuor receives visitors and international diplomats, is a fascinating mixture of art and history. Impressively surrounded by these artworks are compelling historical moments attached to them, including a portrait of Kufuor at Exeter College of the University of Oxford, his alma mater, and a vivid description of a “garden pot, made of wood and ceramic material that has a picture of Mr. Kufuor and an adjacent color embossment of Ghana’s Coat of Arms” (89). This book is divided into ten chapters, coupled with detailed notes and a handy index. Chapter 1, “A Sorcerer’s Apprentice: Lesson in Portrait Painting,” highlights Kufuor’s accomplishments in pictures and showcases a 2018 “photographic portrait decoration” at Exeter College (34). Chapter 2, “A Woman’s Tender Care,” summarizes Kufuor’s family life, giving insights into when and where he met his wife, Madam Theresa, as well as her love for music and devotion to him while he was in political detention. “Faith and the Testimonies of the Martyrs” constitutes chapter 3, which delves into Kufuor’s connection with faith, appreciation, and tolerance in the so-called politics of indulgence. As Agyeman-Duah tells it, Kufuor was consulted by the Vatican to help with “reforms of sclerotic civil structure and to create more efficient bureaucracy” (52); featured is a picture of Kufuor and Pope John Paul II in 2002 (59). The other chapters are “Africa of Our Forebears” (chapter 4), “Between South of the Orient and Occident is Our Abode” (chapter 5), and “Before the Better Angels of Our Nature” (chapter 6). The last listed vaunts Africa as the [End Page 136] birthplace of humanity and adds information on languages, economic and cultural livelihoods, the discovery of oil on the continent, and Chinese influence in the twenty-first century. Undeniably masterful artworks in Kufuor’s gallery weave beautifully into the narrations in these chapters. Agyeman-Duah discusses African artworks as icons, embodiments of aesthetic expression, and records of history in four additional chapters: “Ethnography of Art and Cosmopolitan Aspirations” (chapter 7), “Not for Its...