Kwesi Botchway

There are artists and then there are artists-with-a-mission. The second category belongs to Kwesi Botchway from Accra, Ghana. Not only with his paintings but also with his entire art practice, he wants to raise the state of being of his people to a higher level. A few years ago, Kwesi Botchway founded the WorldFaze Art Studio in Ogbodjo. Botchway was born and raised in Nima, one of the largest Zongo communities in greater Accra (1). It is an old, diverse place of residence with a large Muslim community, a large number of African migrants, a famous market, but also a lot of poverty and a poor infrastructure. Not an environment where art plays a major role. Not exactly a favorable working climate for the many talented young artists who live there. Botchway is aware of this and not only wants to offer them an artist-in-residence opportunity and an exhibition facility, he also wants to guide them in their artistic development, inspire them and mentally prepare them for being an artist. In this way, he makes his community part of his art practice in a natural way. Exhibition: Maruani Mercier Gallery, Brussels, Belgium (17.02.-16.04.2022)