Selina-Emma Okle (IAS)
  • School

"Indigo as Pedagogy" International Field School

01 - 05 February 2024

HAB, with the Institute of African Studies (IAS) at the University of Ghana and the Taipei National University of the Arts (TNUA), Taiwan recently organised the ‘Indigo as Pedagogy' International Field School in Ghana. Faculty, students, and indigo craft practitioners from Ghana, Taiwan and French West Africa were brought in to collaborate together in the co-production of knowledge regarding indigo.

Building off of the HAB collaborative method used to develop the "Indigo as Pedagogy" elective course for TNUA, students and faculty experienced firsthand in this five-day workshop how indigo is used in Ghana, while local communities and practitioners (who act as indigenous knowledge experts) discussed and felt the global context of their local practice.

As part of the field school, participants took part in a combination of field trips and local dialogue forums around Ghana:

  1. Two day field trip to Northern Ghana (Daboya), the indigo craft community to engage with practitioners, observe indigo harvesting and dyeing and hold local discussions on the pedagogical value of Indigo. 
  2. Two-day field trip to the Museum of Natural & Cultural Heritage at Shai Hills which serves as an interface for dialogue between academics and practitioners to hold discussions about indigo as a community heritage and the impacts of globalisation on the local craft industry.
  3. One-day Round table discussions to be held at the IAS, University of Ghana for recollection/reflection.

Participants
Scholars
Samuel Aniegye Ntewusu, IAS, Univ. of Ghana, Legon
Eric Tamatey Lawer, IAS, Univ. of Ghana, Legon
William Narteh Gblerkpor, Department of Archaeology and Heritage Studies, Univ. of Ghana, Legon
Joyce Anku, Department of Teacher Education, University of Ghana, Legon 
Aarti Kawlra, IIAS, Leiden
Min-Chin Chiang, Graduate Institute of Architecture and Cultural Heritage, TNUA, Taipei
Ping-Yu Pan, School of Fine Arts, TNUA, Taipei
I-Wen Chang, MA Program in Arts and Creative Industries, TNUA, Taiwan
Mohomodou Houssouba, Centre for African Studies, University of Basel, Switzerland
Jocelyne Vokouma Boussari, National Center of Scientific and Technologic Research AMOAK, Burkina Faso

Students
Benjamin Kwesi Akangriba, PhD Candidate, Institute of African Studies, University of Ghana, Legon
Selina-Emma Okle, Visual Artist, Institute of African Studies, University of Ghana, Legon
Yuan Sheng, Graduate Student, TNUA, Taiwan
Kuan-Ling Liu, Graduate Student, TNUA, Taiwan
Yu-Min Hsu, Graduate Student, TNUA, Taiwan

Craft Practitioners 
Idrissa Dembele,  Indigo Practitioner, Mali
Wen-Chun Tang Indigo Practitioner, Taiwan
Muhammed Mudasir Tijani Indigo Practitioner, Daboya
Shetu Musah, Indigo Practitioner, Daboya
Abdul-Aziz Beidulaia, Indigo Practitioner, Daboya 

To read more about the field school, see our blog post "Engaging with Indigo: Reflections on the "Indigo as Pedagogy" International Field School".

Venue

Institute of African Studies (IAS), University of Ghana
Accra
Ghana

Contact

Eric Tamatey Lawer 
etlawer@ug.edu.gh

Min-Chin Chiang
kayriver@gmcc.tnua.edu.tw

Enrico Joaquin Lapuz 
e.j.lapuz@iias.nl