The Kodzidan, or House for Stories, is one of many houses founded by Efua Theodora Sutherland as space to create, spin, and share narratives. She was instrumental in the founding of the Ghana Experimental Theatre Company, the Ghana Drama Studio which occupied the site of the current National Theatre in Accra, the Ghana Society of Writers, and a community project called the Kodzidan (Story House) in Ekumfi - Atiwa. These models of indigenous creation spaces held room for the values of local architecture and storytelling traditions that embody and show direct benefits of building narratives that are situated and situate us as Ghanaians in our local context.
Kodzidan 2.0 - Another House for Stories is a celebration of the work, narratives, philosophies, and legacy of Efua Theodora Sutherland from a variety of counter-cultural and contemporary perspectives, proposed and curated by Elisabeth Efua Sutherland, performing artist and granddaughter of Efua Theodora Sutherland, who has prepared a series of works over the past fifteen years that are responses to the work of her grandmother, inspired directly and indirectly by her pioneering work with children, culture and ideas of citizenship and African identity in Ghana.
This specially designed sub-season includes a year long exhibition/installation at the Terra Alta Foundation, built on a corner of Efua T. Sutherland’s property in Dzorwulu; a mobile traveling reading room that will go around to schools and events in urban and rural areas of the country and abroad; and a series of derivative works, plays, and programs inspired by the work of Efua Theodora Sutherland that will serve as inspiration for a new generation.
The image of the book is a self-image
- Efua Theodora Sutherland
Many people nowadays are only vaguely aware of the contributions of Efua Theodora Sutherland to theatre, education, culture and policy, and even more lack specific details of these contributions.
A mobile library and reading room will contain published and unpublished examples of her books, plays, writing, and poems, as well as additional material to contextualise her practice within the times that she created. Visitors will be able sit and peruse the material in a comfortable and engaging context.
The mobile reading room is a portable and independent structure that accommodates all the required functions of mobile library, contextualisation space, and reading room within a small space. Defined by the aesthetic of traditional Akan architecture, courtyard houses and indigenous performance zones like the ones introduced by Efua Theodora Sutherland, this pavilion is conceptualised as a satellite supporting main centenary celebrations.
Fabricated from lightweight panels, this structure can easily be packed down into a crate and transported to various locations as an activation or intervention.
An onsite exhibition will include works and writings of Efua Theodora Sutherland, photographs, as well as contemporary works by artists, farmers, architects, designers, and invited participants. Panels and workshops will be held throughout the course of the exhibition to animate and activate the works, and to give people different inroads into the works.