Hippies of Elmina.

As you enter the Ghanaian fishing port of Elmina, between the pounding surf and the majestically looming St. George's Castle (built by the Portuguese in 1482) lies a huddle of clapboard kiosks mostly proffering petty goods and "small chop." Among these is the studio of Fante artist Donatus Archibald Acquandoh, a wiry, bearded man in his mid-fifties, universally known in Elmina and beyond as "Hippies" (Fig. 1).

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The artist has painted the name "HIPARTS" on the the front of his studio, and he signs some of his works with this moniker. You will find him at his beach studio or in a spacious room with an open verandah on the upper story of his uncle's house in town, where he sometimes retires when his kiosk becomes overcrowded with friends and passers-by, many of them children.

We have never visited Hippies and found him idle, or even pausing to eat or drink. He seems to exist in a state of perpetual motion, working with quiet intensity and glittering eye, now fabricating a mask from papier-mache or wire mesh, then stitching a masquerade costume, sketching or putting the finishing touches to a painting, or instructing one of his apprentices in the finer details of screen-printing or signboard painting. Donatus Archibald Acquandoh is among the most hard-working, versatile, and accomplished West African artists whom we have had the privilege to meet.

Hippies hails from the small coastal town of Mumford, situated between Apam and Gomaa Dogu, east of Winneba in Ghana's Central Region. He was brought up in a poor Fante fishing family, and his father died when he was a boy. There was no-one to sponsor his higher education beyond his attendance at Ghana Art College in Accra, 1971-74. Hippies maintains that had his father not died "in time" (i.e., young) he would have proceeded to the Science and Technology College at Kumasi; he sometimes muses that had this been so, he himself might have become a lecturer in art. Today, however, he says, "I pay school fees to push my children. They will look after me in my old age." Two of Hippies' four children are budding artists: his fourteen-year-old son, Ken, and Todd, aged ten. Family artistic enterprise does not end here, as Hippies' wife, Agnes Atta Kobina, regularly assists her husband in sewing masquerade costumes, notably the cloth-covered foam rubber costumes that are the unique accomplishment of HIPARTS.

Hippies displayed his multimedia talent even at elementary school, where he eagerly engaged in weaving, modeling in clay, and painting. He admits that his main aim in attending college was simply to obtain a formal certificate in order to endorse his reputation. Reading between the lines of his own verbal account, although Hippies does seem to have perfected his drawing and painting in school, his involvement in textile design, screen printing, wood sculpture, and cement modeling seems to have been more as instructor than student.

Hippies adopted his nickname during the 1960s, when he and some classmates established correspondence with an American pop group of the same name, following a write-up about the group in a magazine which one of their fathers had brought back from the US. Today he is almost invariably to be seen sporting a "Hippies"-emblazoned t-shirt, screen-printed or hand-painted by himself.

Hippies established his seaside studio in Elmina in 1979, a rented property, well-situated to catch the attention of potential customers both local and tourist. He usually works in this breezy location, which, unfortunately, he cannot afford to connect to the electricity grid. This is a major drawback, as he often works at night. (In order to meet urgent commissions, Hippies often works for three days and nights at a stretch, taking only brief naps.) This is a further reason why Hippies also works at his uncle's downtown house--it is electrified. Uncle Moses is himself a semi-retired signboard painter and discotheque decorator, who in his younger days worked in neighboring Cote d'Ivoire.

Over the years, Hippies has had numerous apprentices, each of whom, a modicum of starter capital permitting, usually sets up on his own in due course. Apprentices are not paid regularly, but are given some "chop money" and the occasional handout when their master is recompensed for a sizeable commission. In 2000-2001, Hippies engaged three young men--Ebenezer, Joojo and Akopa--who assist in the making of screen-prints, the screen-printing process itself, costume-making, the fashioning of face masks from wire mesh, the preparation of papier-mache mixture, and odd jobs. Any work signed by Hippies is all his own work, as is the decorating and finishing of every mask. Hippies does not find it necessary to exhort his workers: He instructs by way of example.

Nowhere are Hippies' artistic skills better demonstrated than in the making of masks both in wire mesh and in papier-mache (Fig. 2). The following description is based upon our commissioning of the following performance characters, during the period October 2000 to January 2001: Crocodile, Bull, Monkey, Mammy Wata, Fine Lady, and Ugly Man. All these represent stock characters in the so-called Fancy Dress masquerades (Figs. 3-6) of many of the predominantly Fante towns of coastal Ghana. This collection is deposited at the National Museum of Scotland, Edinburgh.

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Fancy Dress masquerades are performed during the Chistmas and New Year season in many towns: New Takoradi, Sekondi, Anemobo, Abandze, Saltpond, Mumford, Apam, Winneba, Agona Swedru, and Elmina, to name but a few. Herbert Cole and Doran Ross refer to this secular tradition, with its brass bands, stilt-dancing, and "deliberate posturing," as a "hybrid" phenomenon, "neither wholly European nor wholly African, but inspired from both sources" (1977:179-86). They speculate as to possible influences dating back well into the age of the sailing ships: the Italian Commedia dell' Arte and Caribbean carnival, with input from liberated slaves sent "home" to Sierra Leone and Liberia, and thence to Ghana in the nineteenth century (ibid., 186).

The argument in favor of a powerful trans-Atlantic cultural exchange is irresistible in the light of the Christmas street festivals of Jamaica and other British-influenced Caribbean countries, including Belize, Guyana, and St. Kitts-Nevis, which combine performances of Jonkonnu masqueraders with Fancy Dress bands (Bettelheim 1988). Particularly striking is the similarity between the multicolored European-influenced costumes typical of Fancy Dress both in the Caribbean and Ghana, often flounced in the case of female costumes, sometimes worn with pantaloons in the case of male ones, and rightly termed "courtly attire" by Judith Bettelheim (ibid., 39). Numerous wire mesh masks were seen, for example, in Fancy Dress celebrations in Cape Coast in January 2001, and although the variety seemed endless, many were virtually identical to Jonkonnu examples illustrated by Bettelheim (1988:Figs. 16, 19, 34, 42). According to the same author (1988:58-9) wire "screen" masks were first imported into South America and the Caribbean from the Austrian Tyrol toward the close of the nineteenth century and afterwards copied by local performers.

However, our own discussions with Ghanaian informants revealed a remarkable ignorance in respect of these early connections. Local people tended to refer to innovations concerning Fancy Dress as not extending beyond their own grandparental generation, bringing Fancy Dress squarely under the British colonial mantle. Parodic representations of colonial officials from Governor General down, popular in the heyday of the Gold Coast colony (Ghana's name prior to independence in 1957) still appear, especially in Fancy Dress performances at Cape Coast, first capital of the country.

Fine Lady (Fig. 7) and Ugly Man wire-mesh face masks were hand-modeled by Hippies in plastic-coated metal mesh of the type normally used for window screens or food sieves. Around the edge of each mask, a strengthening strip of scrap tinplate was fixed by careful hammering. Hanks of sisal fiber purchased in Elmina market, usually used for making ropes and cordage for ocean-going fishing canoes, were dyed and dried in Hippies' upstairs studio. Wigs were then made from lengths of the processed fiber, knotted and sewn into place with the aid of light-gauge brown nylon fishing line. Cotton cloth from an old t-shirt was then sewn to the face mask in order to hold the mask in place and to cover the head and neck of the wearer. Then the wig was sewn to the cloth and mesh respectively.

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The faces of the commissioned masks were painted in turn, with ample drying time between successive applications of modern gloss paint, fluorescent pink paint being used to highlight the lips and eye margins. Finally, the cotton cloth was colored using a dilute brown paint mixture applied by brush. Work on the two masks proceeded over a period of several weeks, during which time the artist also attended to other artworks as well as the papier-mache masks and their associated costumes, and the paintings that we had commissioned.

The frilly Harlequin-like costumes (Fig. 8) customarily worn by Fine Lady and Ugly Man were ordered by Hippies from a specialist tailor in Winneba. Fastidious to a fault, Hippies had rejected the work of the tailor who had initially been requested to do the work, once he had seen superior costumes sewn by the Winneba tailor. These are made predominantly in rayon cloth in the Ghanaian national colors of black, red, gold, and green, with raised shoulder flaps, coat tails, and a tabardlike extension depending from the front of the waist, all stiffened with cardboard. One of the costumes incorporates pieces of printed cotton cloth made to celebrate Ghana's fortieth year of independence.

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It is not clear how long papier-mache, probably not an indigenous African tradition, has been employed in Ghanaian mask production. A photograph dated 1935 (seen by us at Cape Coast), showing a fourteen-strong Fancy Dress troupe at Cape Coast, reveals a high degree of aesthetic and technical accomplishment. At least nine of the characters sport papier-mache masks, which depict a wide variety of humorous and grotesque characters. The fact that many Trinidadian carnival characters, including King Sailor, Fancy Indian, Jumby, and Clown (Crowley 1988:42ff.) habitually employ papier-mache masks suggests that the material has long been in use there, and also provides further evidence of a historical connection between Caribbean and West African Fancy Dress.

Hippies is a master of papier-mache art; the masks he produces are highly expressionistic in execution, tough in texture, and relatively light in weight (Fig. 9). They are certainly intended to be durable, as they are of rocklike consistency once dry and painted. The basic construction of the papier-mache masks is similar to that of the wire mesh masks. His apprentices usually prepare the mixture of torn-up newspaper, carpentry glue, and water, while he fashions the mask armature from galvanized chicken-wire, using a pair of pliers as his main tool. For the papier-mache mixture he prefers lightweight imported newspapers and periodicals to local newsprint; these, he maintains, make a stronger material. He applies the papier-mache to the armature in successive layers, allowing sufficient drying time as the work progresses. Upon completion, the resulting piece is sun-baked for several days prior to painting, which commences with the application of a thick white undercoat. It is Hippies' practice to mix paint by the brushload as he proceeds, and he tends radically to change his paintwork several times until the requisite effect is achieved. Once completed, masks are again put in direct sunlight to dry and harden.

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It is clear that Hippies' papier-mache work has grown out of the use of this material by local artists over a considerable period of time but, given his college education and artistic aspirations, he has elevated his work in the medium to a uniquely refined standard. He informed us that some of his work has been made for patrons in Cote d'Ivoire and other West African countries, as well as commissioned by theater groups in Cape Coast, Accra, and elsewhere.

It was in the latter context that he received his first commission for a Mammy Wata mask ensemble, including papier-mache mask and accompanying costume (Fig. 10) with theatrical backdrop. But this was no ordinary backdrop. The prop in question, a painting of the seashore, was rendered with an aperture allowing Mammy Wata to be seen to arise from the waves! While his wire mesh masks are still within the pocketbook of a few of the more well-heeled Fancy Dress performers, his papier-mache creations are not. It seems likely that future demand in respect of the latter genre will come from "posh" sources.

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The impression we gained from Hippies was that his bread-and-butter income comes not from these occasional commissions, but rather from an on-going demand for screen-printed and hand-painted textiles made for commercial purposes, plus signboard painting. He disclosed that recent business had been very good, given various political parties' demands for flags, banners, t-shirts, and mural paintings engendered by the general and presidential elections taking place in the final quarter of the year 2000. During this period, for example, he satisfied repeated orders for screen-printed "political" t-shirts at a thousand shirts per batch.

Hippies is also a painter, mostly using ordinary emulsion or gloss paint on cotton cloth or artists' canvas. Among his repertory are photographers' backdrops and theater sets, as well as pictures for clients ranging from foreign tourists to the Roman Catholic Church of Elmina. He also paints canoe flags for both Moslem and Christian fishermen. The most remarkable of his painted images are, perhaps, those depicting Mammy Wata, who is usually depicted with long, wild, black hair, rising from the sea and bearing a serpent (Fig. 11). Alternatively, she is shown as a river goddess with three breasts, bearing a silver saber, and arising from a flower-lined River Densu, which, in reality, embouches near Accra (Fig. 12). Such is the visual potency of the latter image that Donatus Acquandoh must surely deserve an accolade as "The Master of the Triple-Breasted Mammy Wata" (Nicklin and Salmons 2002).

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Interestingly, in Benin Republic, Mammy Wata Densou is often depicted as a triple-headed deity, inspired by a print of a Hindu god imported from the Indian subcontinent. Gert Chesi (1980:244, pl. 252) identified this deity as Vishnu in respect to the sculptural work of the late Togolese artist Agbagli Kossi. More specifically, Dana Rush (1999:63) identifies this Hindu deity as Dattatreya, an avatar of Vishnu as the "triple-giver." At the Benin/Togo border in 1997, Keith Nicklin collected a triple-headed Mammy Wata Densou carving directly influenced by an imported Indian print. This was displayed in the "Benin Vodoun Altar for Mami Wata" shrine of the African Worlds exhibition at the Horniman Museum, London (Horniman Museum 1998:7; Salmons 2000:80).

How to sum up the remarkable Donatus Acquandoh, a man who has almost to be forced to pause and take a Coke, a Star beer, or a plate of "small chop"? Just as he is uncompromising with himself in what he does, day in and day out, although invariably polite, he is almost disturbingly direct with those who ask serious questions. Like a good teacher he takes great care in answering questions put to him with care and generosity; truly, he is an excellent professor. Though "big" in the minds of many of those who appreciate his works, Hippies characteristically chooses not to "walk tall" in Elmina for the time being.

All photos by Keith Nicklin

[This article was accepted for publication in February 2002.]

This paper is based upon fieldwork conducted in southern Ghana during the period October 2000-February 2001, as part of a project involving ethnographic research and collection under the auspices of the National Museums of Scotland, Edinburgh. We are grateful to Deputy Director Ms. Dale Idiens, who facilitated her institution 's funding of the collection. We are also grateful for the collaboration of many persons in Ghana, especially Hippies, his wife Agnes, and his workers. Valuable field assistance was rendered by Mr Harry Blankson, Education Officer, Cape Coast Museum, kind permission for this being granted by Mr. R.O. Agbo, Regional Director, Museums and Monuments Board, Cape Coast Castle. Many acts of generosity were extended by Mr O.K. Sampson, District Officer, Center for National Culture, Elmina, and his wife Philomena; not to mention Uncle Moses of Elmina, as well as Maggie, proprietor of "Maggie's Place," Elmina.

References cited

Bettelheim, Judith. 1988. "Jonkonnu and Other Christmas Masquerades." In Caribbean Festival Arts: Each and Every Bit of Difference, eds. John W. Nunley and Judith Bettelheim, pp. 39-84. Seattle: University of Washington Press.

Chesi, Gert. 1980. Voodoo: Africa's Secret Power. Worgl, Austria: Perlinger.

Cole, Herbert M., and Doran H. Ross. 1977. The Arts of Ghana. Los Angeles: University of California, Los Angeles.

Crowley, Daniel J. 1988. "The Traditional Masques of Carnival." In Trinidad Carnival. Port of Spain, Trinidad: Paria Press.

Horniman Museum. 1998. "Altars." Information Booklet for African Worlds. London: Horniman Museum and Gardens.

Nicklin, Keith, and Jill Salmons. 2002. "Popular and Commercial Art in Ghana: Recycling Text, Image, and Materiel." Journal of Museum Ethnography 14 (March).

Rush, Dana. 1999. "Eternal Potential Chromolithographs in Vodunland." African Arts, 2 (4):60-75, 94-6

Salmons, Jill. 2000. "Siren Seductress of the Seven Seas: Mammy Wata in the Global Village." In Re-Visions: New Perspectives on the African Collections of the Horniman Museum, ed. Karel Arnaut, pp. 73-88. London: Horniman Museum and Gardens.