Bright Tetteh Ackwerh is a

Ghana Ghana, officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It is situated along the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, and shares borders with Côte d’Ivoire to the west, Burkina Faso to the north, and Togo to t ...

ian satirical artist who employs the domains of popular art, street art, painting, and illustration to voice and document his persuasions. He has exhibited widely in Ghana and

West Africa West Africa, also known as Western Africa, is the westernmost region of Africa. The United Nations geoscheme for Africa#Western Africa, United Nations defines Western Africa as the 16 countries of Benin, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, The Gambia, Gha ...

, building a niche as an emerging contemporary Ghanaian artist on the West African art scene.

Early life

Born in

Accra Accra (; or ''Gaga''; ; Ewe: Gɛ; ) is the capital and largest city of Ghana, located on the southern coast at the Gulf of Guinea, which is part of the Atlantic Ocean. As of 2021 census, the Accra Metropolitan District, , had a population of ...

, Ghana, Bright attended

Accra Academy Accra Academy is a Single-sex education, boys' high school located at Bubuashie near Kaneshie in the Greater Accra Region, Ghana. It admits both boarding and day students. Founded as a private school in 1931, it gained the status of a Government ...

and studied Visual Arts for his senior high school education, before proceeding to

Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), commonly known as UST, Tech or Kwame Tech, is a public university located in Kumasi, Ashanti region, Ghana. The university focuses on science and technology. It is the second public uni ...

(KNUST) to study for BFA and MFA degrees in painting. He completed his first degree in 2011 and served as a teaching assistant the following year.

Career

He began by exhibiting his artworks via social media and also painting on wall murals in the streets of Accra. He has featured in many art exhibitions in Ghana and abroad. Some these include: Art X Lagos Exhibition in

Nigeria Nigeria, officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf of Guinea in the Atlantic Ocean to the south. It covers an area of . With Demographics of Nigeria, ...

, blockbuster exhibitions by Blaxtarlines in

Kumasi Kumasi is a city and the capital of the Kumasi Metropolitan Assembly and the Ashanti Region of Ghana. It is the second largest city in the country, with a population of 443,981 as of the 2021 census. Kumasi is located in a rain forest region ...

and the

Chale Wote Street Art Festival The Chale Wote Street Art Festival also known as Chale Wote, is an annual street festival in Accra, Ghana organized by ACCRA otALT, in collaboration with Redd Kat Pictures and Chale Wote Street Art Projekt. The festival targets exchanges betw ...

in Accra. In 2016, he won the Kuenyehia Prize for Contemporary Ghanaian Art at an event held at the Ringway Estates in Accra. Bright has through the years used social media in sharing his works and provoking ''powerful'' sentiments around the themes he explores in his illustrations and paintings. He has also participated in group shows in Accra,

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

Johannesburg Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu language, Zulu and Xhosa language, Xhosa: eGoli ) (colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, Jo'burg or "The City of Gold") is the most populous city in South Africa. With 5,538,596 people in the City of Johannesburg alon ...

and

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

. In October 2017 he featured in the October edition of

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''African Voices''. He was also on the

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L'Atelier Art Competition's 2017 list of top 10 artists.

Style

His style is a satirical re-presentation of Ghanaian sociopolitical and religious issues in an incisive manner that provokes conversations, sparks debate and elicits response. He draws huge inspiration from

Fela Kuti Fela Aníkúlápó Kútì (born Olufela Olusegun Oludotun Ransome-Kuti; 15 October 1938 – 2 August 1997) was a Nigerians, Nigerian musician and political activist. He is regarded as the principal innovator of Afrobeat, a Nigerian music genre t ...

and other great African heroes as the subject of his works depict the unapologetic manner in relaying his messages. He believes the music culture has a certain power to influence and inspire people and there's always the use of double and triples entendre that provide entry points into some of the discussions that the artwork generates.

Awards

*In 2016 Bright Ackwerh won the Kuenyehia Prize for Contemporary Ghanaian Art award.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ackwerh, Bright Living people Ghanaian satirists Satirical painters Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology alumni Alumni of the Accra Academy Year of birth missing (living people) Ghanaian painters Ghanaian male sculptors 21st-century Ghanaian sculptors Artists from Accra