Photo By Byörn MyhreHistory of self, culture & longing for self-understanding are some main driving factors for Kwaku Opoku’s work. Through countless conversations and interactions with nature and his immediate surroundings, he often curates and creates a slew of experiments that help get him close to this longing for self-understanding.
In the last 12 years of his life, Kwaku had battled a neurological condition that further pushed him to confront identity in his work. This particular experience developed a deep investigative mindset. Traces of this way of thinking can be seen in how he fragments and dissects portraits in pieces like ScreeNkrumah and in films he’s worked on like Free Dome. This same deep investigative approach is very evident in all work Kwaku creates.
He is constantly in conversation with nature to find answers and solutions to almost any problem. In collaboration with Small Hype, he has spent the last three years engaging with a deteriorating wetland in his hometown, Tema. The goal here is to replant and rebuild the wetland’s biological character. This project, dubbed We Have Decided, has developed many projects like Trash-ID. Trash-ID explores the harmful effects and overpopulation of black polythene bags in his hometown.
In 2016, Kwaku was awarded the John L. Tishman award for sustainability in New York while studying at Parsons School for Design. Since then, he has been nominated and won a couple of awards like, the best Swiss Film at the Gassli Film festival, Basel. He is also a part of the first round winners for his short films, ‘Dame Dame’ and ‘Ɛse ne Tɛkerema,’ at the 2021 SONX competition of literature and music.
While in New York, Kwaku earned a BFA in Integrated Design at Parsons School for Design and minored in contemporary music. Based in Basel, Switzerland, he is pursuing an International Master of Design at The Basel School of Design, Visual Communication Institute HGK FHNW. Currently, Kwaku is in the planning stage of two major exhibitions in Basel and London. He was also a part of the just ended Wa Woori festival in Ghana, where he exhibited excerpts from his new ongoing Kenteverse Project.
Through an adept use of color, attention to texture, and process, Kwaku can transcend seemingly mundane ideas into thorough conceptual narratives. Kwaku is a co-founder and designer at Small Hype, a design studio based in Ghana; this is where he works on most of his design and explorative communication projects.
In the last 12 years of his life, Kwaku had battled a neurological condition that further pushed him to confront identity in his work. This particular experience developed a deep investigative mindset. Traces of this way of thinking can be seen in how he fragments and dissects portraits in pieces like ScreeNkrumah and in films he’s worked on like Free Dome. This same deep investigative approach is very evident in all work Kwaku creates.
He is constantly in conversation with nature to find answers and solutions to almost any problem. In collaboration with Small Hype, he has spent the last three years engaging with a deteriorating wetland in his hometown, Tema. The goal here is to replant and rebuild the wetland’s biological character. This project, dubbed We Have Decided, has developed many projects like Trash-ID. Trash-ID explores the harmful effects and overpopulation of black polythene bags in his hometown.
In 2016, Kwaku was awarded the John L. Tishman award for sustainability in New York while studying at Parsons School for Design. Since then, he has been nominated and won a couple of awards like, the best Swiss Film at the Gassli Film festival, Basel. He is also a part of the first round winners for his short films, ‘Dame Dame’ and ‘Ɛse ne Tɛkerema,’ at the 2021 SONX competition of literature and music.
While in New York, Kwaku earned a BFA in Integrated Design at Parsons School for Design and minored in contemporary music. Based in Basel, Switzerland, he is pursuing an International Master of Design at The Basel School of Design, Visual Communication Institute HGK FHNW. Currently, Kwaku is in the planning stage of two major exhibitions in Basel and London. He was also a part of the just ended Wa Woori festival in Ghana, where he exhibited excerpts from his new ongoing Kenteverse Project.
Through an adept use of color, attention to texture, and process, Kwaku can transcend seemingly mundane ideas into thorough conceptual narratives. Kwaku is a co-founder and designer at Small Hype, a design studio based in Ghana; this is where he works on most of his design and explorative communication projects.
Education
Bachelor in Fine Arts
Parsons School of Design / New York / USA / 2014 - 2017
Master of Design
The Basel School of Design – Academy of Art and Design HGK – University of Applied Sciences and Arts Northwestern Switzerland FHNW
Bachelor in Fine Arts
Parsons School of Design / New York / USA / 2014 - 2017
Master of Design
The Basel School of Design – Academy of Art and Design HGK – University of Applied Sciences and Arts Northwestern Switzerland FHNW