INTERNATIONAL WOMEN'S DAY TALK

On 8th March, International Women’s Day, I was invited by Nuku Studio for a talk with photographer Benedicte Kurzen, writer and filmmaker Nuotama Bodomo, and architect Baerbel Mueller at Nuku Studio, the Centre for Photographic Research and Practice in Tamale.

The event was scheduled to commence at 3:00pm. Since 08/03 was not a holiday and I had to go to work, I pre informed the guys at Nukun studio that I would be a bit late to the event because I close work by 3:30m.

After i closed from work, i went straight to the venue of the program which is luckily some few blocks from my work place. Even though I was about 30 minutes late, the program only started a few minutes before I was there. This was due to some technical issues. I was kinda excited about this, lol.

Benedict Kurzen was the first speaker at the program. Benedict Kurzen is a French photographer and journalist, she is currently based in Lagos, Nigeria.

She spoke about her recent work land of Ibeji This was a collaborative photographic project she did about twins in 2019.

Just a few weeks ago, I was reading a thread on twitter about this Land of Ibeji project. It was really amazing listening and interacting with this amazing woman.

Next to speak was Nuotama Bodomo. She is a renowned Ghanaianian filmmaker, writer and director. She is best known for her famous award winning short film Afronaut

Nuotama spoke about the effects of our highly saturated patriarchy societies and how significantly it has altered history, especially the significant contributions of brave women in our histories.

She also shared with us how she has drawn inspiration from the patterns and sequence of kente (a traditional ghanian woven cloth) and is able to fuse it into film making.

Last to speak was Baerbel Mueller. She is an architect and researcher based in Austria and Ghana. She shared with us some of her amazing projects over the years in Ghana, including the Naa Gbewa university and the new Guabuliga market, the Haduwa apata, and many others.

The event climaxed with an interesting questions and answers segment. I can not think of any better way to spend an international women's day than listening and interacting with these three amazing creative thinkers.

Wuuut, no flowers on the International Women’s Day? What kind of habit is that? How do you celebrate women then?

Lol of course there were flowers and even more. Before everything was over, all the guys in the hall climbed the stage and bowed together to all the women for their immense contributions and bravery in our societies and beyond.

Thank you so much for your time, I hope it was interesting reading from me.

Cover image belongs to Nuku studio, used here by their consent. All other images are mine.