By John Owoo
(Accra – Ghana)
An exhibition by Polish-born, German-raised artist Susanna Tarkowski, who currently lives and works in Ghana, unfolds as a quiet yet resonant meditation on memory, perception, and lived experience.
Presented at the Buro, an Accra-based co-working space and curated by Patrick Nii Okanta Ankrah, the exhibition brings together paintings, drawings, and poetry, forming an intimate archive of moments drawn from everyday life, dreams, and inner visions.
Tarkowski’s practice is resolutely multimedia, but not in the sense of spectacle. Rather, she treats each medium—painting, poetry, and drawing—as a parallel channel for recording memory. Much like entries in a personal journal, these forms coexist without the need to translate among them.
Instead, they offer different registers through which memory can surface. As the artist notes, “memory is never singular but layered, and shaped by details that remain alive when seen as part of something larger.” This understanding permeates the exhibition, where fragments accumulate into a larger emotional and sensory landscape.
Titled “A Place for Memories,” the works on display oscillate between abstraction and figuration. Vibrant segments of color are interrupted by motifs, suggesting fleeting encounters or fully remembered narratives.
This reflective atmosphere is reinforced by the exhibition’s live poetry session at the opening, which brought Tarkowski’s words to life as embodied experience rather than static text. Here, poetry functions not as explanation but as resonance—another layer through which memory vibrates.
The artist, who works across poetry and short fiction, painting, photography, and dance, uses movement as a pathway into traditional culture and spiritual healing. Her practice spans a wide emotional spectrum: on one end, it is infused with light, human connection, love, dreams, and a profound appreciation of life; on the other, it confronts difficult realities, including abuse, sexual harassment, and personal trauma. This duality lends her work a tension that feels both raw and tender.
Ultimately, the exhibition asks what is omitted in the act of “re-membering.” It urges viewers to tune in to the overlooked—fleeting sensations, emotional undercurrents, and the interconnected worlds we carry within us: physical, mental, spiritual, and emotional. Tarkowski does not offer answers; instead, she creates space for memory to breathe.
The exhibition has since ended.
