We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Kwaku Yaro. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Kwaku below.

Kwaku , looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. How did you come up with the idea for your business?

It all started when I wanted a signature, something that will represent me as an artist. I realized that artists like Pablo Picasso, Mark Bradford and Ibrahim Mahama had something that represented them and that’s something I wanted for myself. My mum is a trader and she always comes home with one-use shopping bags and sacks, and she used to throw them out in the bin. This same practice goes for most people in my community. I decided to reuse these materials in my artworks to portray the fashion and lifestyle of the people in my community, and by doing so I’m contributing to my community by helping to solve the issue with waste management.

Kwaku , before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

I am Kwaku Yaro, a Ghanaian contemporary artist, born in 1995 in Ghana. I grew up in Labadi-Accra, a per-urban community located on the coast of Ghana. I have been practicing for over six years now as an artist. I believe discipline and craft go hand in hand, it takes discipline and consistency to discover your craft as an artist and that has really helped me in my artistic journey. The materiality and the recycling aspects of my work are what really set me apart in terms of craft and practice. Creating an impact in my society has always been important to me and being able to contribute to my community in my own way is something that I’m really proud of. I hope to achieve more through my works to impact greater change in my community and more.

We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.

In 2020, I was supposed to take part in an exhibition in Accra, which I prepared tirelessly for but was unable to participate in due to the pandemic. Unfortunately, there weren’t that many opportunities for visual artists at the time, and not that many people were interested in buying artworks at the time, especially from Ghana. I was stranded and didn’t know what to do. My mother did not fully understand the idea of being an artist, especially during a time of uncertainty – which I will not blame her for because making it as an artist is not easy and being a mother, she only wanted the best for me and suggested I find other ways to work for money. I saw the pandemic and lockdown period as an opportunity to challenge myself to get better and evolve, and that decision and dedication led me to become the person I am evolving into today. I later joined the Artemartis collective in the following year, and that has also shaped my artistic journey.

Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?

During my school days, I was taught that black is not considered a color, but rather the absence of light. Consequently, we were prohibited from using black as a primary color for markdown purposes. However, I came to realize that this notion was incorrect, requiring me to unlearn that belief.

Contact Info:

• Website: theartemartis.com/kwakuyaro
• Instagram: kwaku_yaro
• Twitter: @artemartis

Image Credits
Portrait images – Courtesy of Gallery 1957 and Artemartis, Photographed by Nii Odzenma Studio/Process images – Courtesy of the Artist and Artemartis, Photographed by Kwadwo Asiedu Artwork Images – Courtesy of Artemartis and Septieme Gallery, Photographed by Kwadwo Asiedu