Advent

The sweet Advent is finally here!

Inspirations from Sirigu

As Philip Briggs describes it in his Ghana Guide, nestled against the Burkina Faso border, just north of Bolgatanga - Sirigu is known for its pottery and basketwork produced by its women as an extra income outside the harvest seasons. Its colors and images is found in the villages symbolic wall paintings with which these female artists decorate their characteristically Sahelian flat-roofed adobe houses. Its uniqueness made first page on the 4th addition of the "must have" travelers guide to Ghana.

Old traditions applied in contemporary buildings and art craft.

If you want to stay and learn more about the place and the art work you can stay at the Sirigu Woman´s Organization for Pottery and Art (SWOPA), established in 1997 to maintain the artwork and secure the income of the local women. Although you can by their work in galleries in Accra, the atmosphere and the surroundings of SWOP is worthwhile visiting. You also get a chance to learn how the work is done.

When we visited the place in July 2008 the activity was low, as the women were busy working on their land. We still, however got a good introduction to the place and the work undertaken.

In 2002 Kofi Annan came to visit, the importance of the visit is expressed in a statue made at the site.

The kraals of Larabanga

Larabanga at the borderline of the beautiful Mole national park in the northern region of Ghana is a place we often retur to. The place is surrounded by stonning nature and wilde life, history, magic and rich cultural heritage.

It is described as the southerly accessible example of the traditional flat-roofed mud kraals in the country. The roofs are accessible with a wood leather, and the terrace on top has been an inspiration when we developed our own modern home in Ghana.

The first pictures shows the interior of the one-room building. While the last picture in the collage shows the outdoor kitchen, with its fireplace for cooking, the drying of palm nuts. On the wall in the background you can see the characteristic calendar of the area.

Toys from waste fabric - "bags of peas"

The left over fabric from the blue bedroom has been used to activate and teach the children how to use the sewing machine. As the kids´s handball team needed Bags filled with peas for their training activities, we new exactly what to make. You can find tutorial and suggestions for usage here, at UnePune´s blog.

Finally ready to play!

Blue wave Bedroom design

When designing a room I normally choose a theme or a color from natures own pallet to make a holistic impression. The young girl who was moving into this bedroom preferred blue, and had picked a print she wanted for curtains at the market in Kumasi, as a start.

A local carpenter in Accra has made both beds, bed cabinets and curtain sheds from my drawings. Today cheaper alternatives can be found in stores importing from outside, however - without supporting local production local work shops will have to close down.

As I intend supporting local craft for production, the curtain fabric was brought to a nearby seamstress. Unfortunately, she like so many others had stopped using Ghanaian fabric and travelled to imported all their material from China. No problem, as I could make my own curtains, but sad for those making the wax print.

After adding some gold textile paint, a pice of the print for the curtains was framed to make a matching decor.

Based on the initial choice of fabric I found a set of matching prints in Tamale. The traditional prints was used to saw decorating pillows, and to improved the look of some old lamp shades. The dolls and the painting are fun details, indicating that this is the room of a young girl, and her friends.

The furniture in the room was designed to be flexible. The beds can easily be parted, and can easily room two people each when the house is crowded. Very convenient when the African extended family comes visiting!

The basic blue color follows into the attached bedroom. The blue and yellow basket matches the towels that goes with the room.

Marriage of two cultures

A cross cultural wedding is a golden opportunity of bringing together the beauty of two cultures, rather than dressing in what has become a uniformed white dressed bride and black suited groom. At left the traditional Ashanti Kente and Norwegian Bunad. (Foto Vedlog)

Below the Norwegian designer Lise Sjåk Bræk has married the two costumes in a Norwegian dress made with woven Kente fabric.

Kente was traditionally used by the royals. It is made up of a number of fine woven strips that is sawn together into a larger pice, often made by young boys. Different color combination and patterns give different meanings, and represents different locations - as do the various Norwegian bunads.

(Foto Opoku)

Various kente patterns from Ghana and Togo.

(Foto Sjåk Bræk)