The Kuenyehia Trust for Contemporary Art announces Lois ARDE-ACQUAH (Ghana) as the 2020 winner of the Kuenyehia Prize

This year, in spite of the global pandemic, the Kuenyehia Trust for Contemporary Art has held a successful fifth season of the eponymous Prize, bringing to the fore compelling creativity and storytelling like never seen before with 266 applications from 14 West African countries. The KPrize is a bi-annual art competition aiming at identifying, awarding and empowering upcoming and mid-career artists with a vision to globally advance contemporary African Art.

The KPrize Grand Jury made up of seasoned artists, art collectors and art professionals in West Africa; Sonia Lawson (Togo), Director Palais de Lomé, Azu Nwagbogu (Nigeria), Founder and Director of African Artists' Foundation (AAF); Nu Barretto (Guinea Bissau/France), Award Winning Artist; Zohra Opoku (Ghana), Award Winning Artist; kąrî'kạchä seid’ou (Ghana), Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST); has identified Lois ARDE-ACQUAH (Ghana), is the winner of The 2020 Kuenyehia Prize (KPrize).

The Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology Art graduate, is best known for her laborious process of hand drawings of her intricate monochrome patterns. Her performances and installations -centered around her own body- explore the idea of ‘repetition’. With time, her initial process of hand drawing with black markers has evolved into cutting out patterns from black synthetic leathers.

“I am particularly drawn towards a physically, mentally and emotionally draining process. One that demands a painstaking dedication of oneself to create something. A process that is difficult, ‘hard’ and almost impossible to achieve. One that is tiring and leads to boredom” she explains.

She joins Kwame Akoto-Bamfo (2015 winner), Bright Ackwerh (2016 winner), Nana Opoku (2017 winner) and Yaw Owusu (2018 winner). Also awarded were Opoku Mensah (Ghana), as 1st runner up and Chinwe Chigbu (Nigeria), 2nd runner up. They will respectively receive training, cash prizes, and art supplies for an estimated value of 5,000$, 3,000$ and 2,000$.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the awards ceremony and exhibition featuring the 12 2020 shortlisted artists have been postponed to 2021, to a date that will be communicated soon.