Listen, Listen: Adadam Agofomma: a fine-press book by Take Time Press

November 1 – December 31, 2011

The inaugural publication of Take Time Press, “Listen, Listen: Adadam Agofamma,” was designed and produced by Mary Hark, a textile artist and papermaker in the UW-Madison Design Studies Department (School of Human Ecology).  The exquisite handmade book celebrates the legacy of Koo Nimo, a Ghanian Palm Wine musician.  Through the use of paper samples, plant materials, photographs, and other material, this exhibit documents the book’s production and artistic process.

For a number of years, Hark has worked to develop a hand papermaking mill at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology in Kumasi, Ghana.  This limited edition book, with lovely clam-shell box and letterpress printed pamphlets, stems from a collaborative initiative to develop high quality paper made from local plant materials in Africa.  The book’s paper is made from the pulp-mulberry plant, a non-indigenous and invasive woody plant in the Ashanti Region.  Through experimentation, Hark and her colleagues found that the mulberry plant (or kozo) produces a beautiful and strong product when combined with other botanical fibers such as cashew and papyrus. Farmers in the area harvested and sold Hark the raw material and the scientists at the Forest Research Institute of Ghana assisted by sharing their expertise.

“Listen, Listen,” also features a specially produced photographic and musical CD that showcases Koo Nimo and his ensemble playing the melodic, acoustical West African music, known as palm wine. The name of Koo Nimo’s musical group, Adadam Agofamma, translates as Roots Ensemble.  The book also includes a handsome suite of three intaglio and relief prints, titled Sound Fabric, by Ghanian artist Dr. Atta Kwami.  The prints, which honor and respond to the music of Koo Nimo, were produced by Dr. Atta Kwami and master printmaker Pamela Clarkson in their Ayeduase New Site Studio, the only intaglio studio in Ghana.

This exhibit is part of a larger series of events presented by the UW-Madison Design Gallery: “Look, Look, Listen, Listen: Celebrating the Arts of Ghana.”  The other events include two exhibitions at the Commonwealth Gallery (Tradition & Innovation: Batik yardage by Dorothy Akpene Amenuke, Adinka cloth from the Boakye Family Workshop; and Place to Place: Recent paintings and prints by Atta Kwami and Pamela Clarkson) as well as a concert at the UW-Madison Music Hall (Koo Nimo: in concert with Atimevu Drum and Dance Ensemble).  For more information about these events, see:  www.designgallery.wisc.edu.

Curated by Lyn Korenic and Mary Hark

Image from:  Mary Hark.  Listen, Listen: Adadam Agofomma: honoring the legacy of Koo Nimo.  [Minneapolis]: Take Time Press, 2011.