By John Owoo
(Atakpamé – Togo)
An abandoned German colonial building in Atakpamé, Togo, has become an unlikely meeting ground for contemporary art, cultural memory, and traditional African symbolism.
The exhibition Conversations: Symbolism and Lifestyle, featuring paintings and sculptures by Kojo Biney and Ray Agbo, invites visitors to reconsider how everyday gestures, communal relationships, and inherited cultural practices shape social life in African communities.
Presented as part of the ongoing Karp Kamina Artists and Researchers Residency 2026, the exhibition draws inspiration from Atakpamé’s cultural landscape, where Ana and Ewe-speaking communities converge. Known as the “city of seven hills,” Atakpamé offers a compelling backdrop for an artistic exploration of communication beyond spoken language.
The exhibition’s central premise is that conversation is not merely an exchange of words but a living social practice. In African societies, symbols often carry meanings deeply embedded in daily life, communal rituals, and relationships. Bargaining in the market between traders and customers, sharing kola nuts, and communal drinking of palm wine become expressions of negotiation, hospitality, solidarity, and belonging.
Through their paintings and sculptures, Biney and Agbo present these familiar encounters as visual narratives. Their approach invites viewers to look beyond the surface of everyday life and to recognize the cultural codes communities use to communicate, preserve knowledge, and sustain relationships. Here, symbolism is not merely decorative; it is inseparable from the experiences and traditions that give it meaning.
An intriguing aspect of the exhibition is its presentation of paintings alongside newspaper pages. This arrangement adds another layer of meaning, bringing together artistic expression, public information, and historical documentation. The newspapers serve as more than a backdrop, evoking memories of earlier times and prompting reflection on how history is recorded, circulated, and remembered.
The venue choice further deepens the exhibition’s significance. Housed in an abandoned German colonial structure, the works occupy a space steeped in a complex historical legacy. Their presence creates a dialogue between the colonial past and contemporary African cultural expression. For older visitors, the building may evoke memories of an earlier era, while younger generations can engage with that history through art.
Ultimately, Conversations: Symbolism and Lifestyle portrays culture as continually negotiated rather than fixed. Like the conversations that inspired it, the exhibition remains open-ended, inviting audiences to reflect on the symbols, rituals, and relationships that link generations.
By reclaiming an abandoned colonial space for artistic encounter, Biney and Agbo transform a building associated with the past into a place for examining, sharing, and renewing cultural memory.
The exhibition ends on Friday, October 16, 2026.
