Kuenehiya Art Prize

Location: Accra, Ghana

Attendees: 300

VIPs: ICC Judge Kuenehiya

I always find it such an honour to be asked to host events abroad, but it also adds another level of pressure. A different audience, different culture, with different expectations. Preparation is always the key to hosting a good event, but when it is abroad it can be hard to accurately envisage the audience in your head. Who will you be speaking too, young hip artists or older more conservative art collectors… a big difference!

Rather than pretend to have grown up in Ghana, ( I have lived in 6 countries so far) I thought I should instead bring my unique perspective to the stage regarding the state of Ghanaian art and how it can be used to create employment. So… I decided to perform a piece from Ghanaian philosopher Big Shaq entitled... Man’s Not Hot.

Why? Because it says a lot how a comedy sketch by a Ghanaian Londoner can lead to sales of 600,000 singles and over 200,000 million streams! Just think of how many jobs a 5 min artistic sketch has supported and could support in countries like Ghana if arts had the support systems to contribute to the economy. Point made - job done!

“Michael has the unique ability to leverage his cultural experiences living in numerous countries to build bridges with diverse audiences.”

Elikem Nutifafa Kuenehiya