LOSITO in Africa |
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| LOSITO emerges | |
| In January/February 1989, we travelled to the south of Senegal, to the
Casamance. With painting utensils in our luggage, we arived at Abene, a fishermen’s
village close to the Gambian border. The private activity of painting soon became a public
one, curious juveniles grasped the possibility to try the painting themselves. Painting at once was a welcome tool to express oneself. Soon people of different ages, professions and of both sexes started to paint. These paintings were gathered in one place, the painters discussed their own work and that of others. The group named itself LOSITO. |
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Women of Abene take part |
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LOSITO is a bundle of firewood. It is a word from the
Mandinka language. In this village, more than five languages are spoken, the majority of
the 1.400 inhabitants use Mandinka. Mandinka is one of the main languages in Gambia. Paintings showing people at their places: the sea, fishermen, the bush, palmwine drawers, work in the field, in the village. Being together. Paintings, nourished by widely spaced conversations. Days and nights. Paintings by Amath Guisse, the artist of basketweaving, by Modu Alieu Badije who also does cardboard works for the tourists, by Samba Koulibali, who holds the oil lamp in one hand at night, with the other hand he paints on a canvas bigger than the wall of his room. Paintings by the fisherman Kalilou Fatty, who paints his grandmother Fatou Kammara in such a way that everyone in the village recognizes her on the painting. Fatou Kammara surprises all people with her drawing of a palmtree. Paintings by Oumar Diane, who initiates a wave of portraits by his painting "people" - pictures of people at their places! In the meantime, LOSITO became a movement, represented by its variety of activities, discussions, approaches, learning processes. At the beginning, the focus was on the idea of painting friendships. Paintings from Abene, that we bring to Germany and Austria, and that shall invite a communication with "people at their places". |
| LOSITO in Southern Africa | |
| Our first LOSITO stay in Southern Africa was in 1992/93 in
Namibia, on Otjikondo, a cattle farm and school for the children of farmworkers in the
north. We spent about three months there, worked in the garden of the school, coached
those children in English who had difficulties with the changing of the school language
from Afrikaans to English, and celebrated with the farmworkers, housekeepers and their
families, laughing, discussing, talking, dancing and painting, painting, painting! Many adults on Otjikondo experimented with colour and paper for the first time. Curious, at first shy, but with great enthusiasm, the people juggled brushes, watercolours, pencils, paper. Again, paintings of "people at their places" emerged, amazing in their boldness and clarity, their colouring and outline. Many of the paintings initiated discussions on long evenings about controversial attitudes towards reality, perception, stories, daily work, living conditions. |
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Exhibition of paintings |
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| Packed with paintings of "people at their places",
with ideas, undigested experiences and with friendships, we returned to Germany at the end
of March. Already one year later, we succeeded in realizing our plan to invite our friend
and LOSITO artist Auguste Gaeses to Germany, where we participated in the Namibian Culture
Week in Bremen with an exhibition of the paintings from Otjikondo. Well in the LOSITO
sense, the exhibition was a meeting place and forum for many visitors. Like many times
before, also this time we set up a painting workshop in which those participated, who
wanted to answer the Namibian paintings or give a personal message to the people in
Namibia. A great variety of paintings was done, surprising us by their powerful expression
and ideas. The foundation for the next exchange was laid. And so the plans for another
journey quickly took shape. In August 1994, we reached Zimbabwe, the former front state in the fight against the Apartheid regime, via Johannesburg in the new democratic Southafrica. Our goal was Nyahode, a small mountain village about 20 km southeast of Chimanimani in one of the more fertile regions of Zimbabwe. There we lived in a round hut in the village that is not connected to the electricity or water supplies, where there is one well for the 500 inhabitants and the cooking fires are never extinguished. Also here, the painting utensils, watercolours, pencils, brush and paper made their way through the village, the offer to express oneself in painting was taken. |
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Susan Mudiko "Friendship" Nyahode/Zimbabwe 1994 |
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| At the end of our three months stay, we showed all the
paintings including those we brought from Germany at the waysides of the village. Of
course, there was another painting workshop, where all the people could express their
feelings, thoughts, ideas. Promising a reunion, we left Nyahode, heading towards Namibia,
the goal for the exchange of paintings from 1992. We reached Windhoek, the capital, in November. Already in December, we had our first LOSITO painting activity at Opuwo, in the northwestern part of Namibia. At the small market place of the village, we showed the paintings from Zimbabwe and Germany. After first attempts of getting in touch, soon the ice melted under the hot sun, and colours and paper were used by children and adults, men and women. Part of those paintings, as well as some of the Zimbabwe ones and answering pictures from Germany, we showed in January and February in the "Namibian German Foundation for Cultural Cooperation" in Windhoek. The opening was a big event, the GanGanDaRa choir from Katutura Township, friends of us, gave the opening concert for the evening, that was greatly enjoyed by all visitors. A celebration of meeting, controversy, discussion. The painting workshop there turned out to be too small, it burst from all seams. |
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Joe Madisia and |
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One week later, LOSITO invited to a public discussion at which as special guests appeared the Namibian artists Josef Madisia, Ndinolago Shaanika, Adelheid Lilienthal and Hercules Viljoen. Nearly 30 people were interested in the topic "Should there be an authentic African art?" There were controversial discussions, especially between the white "Deutschsüdwesterners" on the one hand, who had a rather conservative notion of art, and criticised the missing or inadequate artistic education of the LOSITO artist, and the bigger part of the present Namibian artists on the other hand, who agreed with us that the communicative aspects of art should be more honoured and stressed. |
| LOSITO in Ghana | |
| In 1996, we travelled to Ghana. We lived at Alavanyo, a village of 1.000 people at the shore of the Volta lake, close to the Togoese Border. In cooperation with the northern German Mission, we were able to wotrk with the pupils, teachers and employees of the vocational school E.P.T.T.C. It was an interesting thing to first explain to the people of the school that we did not come to teach something to them, but that we (also) wanted to learn from them.And also that we had no economical interests at all, like selling paintings in Germany or something like that. After two days, a group of about 20 people had formed with whom we spent the afternoons every day, painting, talking, listening,discussing. Of course, not only the people of the school came to know our intentions. Soon people of any age (the oldest man was more than 90!) and both sexes came to us, invited us or took brushes, colours and paper home to paint there. | |
William Dongo of Alavanyo.
Natmaniel Osei |
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| At marketday in the village, we seized the opportunity to encourage the market women to do some painting. We showed these paintings at the end of our stay in a big exhibition in the market place. We left there with the promise to organize painting friendships and to show and explain to the inhabitants of Bremen, how the people in Alavanyo are living. | |
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| Already in the same year, we could show part of
the paintings we brought back in the art gallery "Dialog" in Leeste, close to
Bremen. As always, we set up a painting workshop that could take place in the open, thanks
to the good weather. The International Buchtstraßenchoir of Bremen sang some African
songs from its repertory at the opening of the exhibition. We could take so many exchange
and answering paintings with us as never before! The second plan was to invite the Ghanaese artist Rose Ntsri from Accra and to organize an exhibition of her work. Although her stay at Bremen was partly financially supported by the Cultural Department of the Bureau of Foreign Affairs at Bonn, the German Embassy withheld the visa for her without giving any explanation. Protests did not help, and we decided to do something against the German policy of locking out people of African origin from now on, by putting more stress on making possible the personal encounter of artists from African countries and from Bremen. In order to guarantee a solid base for the exchange and continuity in the work of LOSITO, we decided to support the establishment of permanent LOSITO offices in the respective African countries, that were supposed to work independently from Bremen as far as the organization and finances are concerned. Since the beginning of 1998, there are two LOSITO cultural and education centres in Ghana that are working independently of each other. One is in the village Adjua, about 10 km west of the port Takoradi. There five craftsmen and one teacher are working in the areas wood- and stonecarving, cloth- and posterprinting, dance and drumming. They gathered under the name of "LOSITO arts and educational training centre" and started to train the juvenile inhabitants of the village in crafting. The young people of Adjua and its surrounding accepted this offer in such great numbers that the LOSITO site became too small. In February 1999, the chief of Adjua handed over to LOSITO Adjua a former schoolhouse and ground in an official ceremony. This will now be renovated and rebuilt, so that guests from Europe can also come here to participate in art workshops that will last for some weeks. |
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Official opening of
LOSITO Cultural Troupe provided |
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| The second LOSITO project is headed by the painter Rose Ntsri. It is situated in the village Alavanyo in southeast Ghana and is called "RADZO & LOSITO Arts and Craft Project". Ms Ntsri there offers courses in clothdesign, batics and pottery for the older women (aged between 60 and 75 years) of the village. This shall serve as a possibility for an own income for them. | |
Participants of a batics course
Cloth is printed by selfmade wooden stamps
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