Cephas Yao Agbemenu
Cephas Yao Agbemenu | |
|---|---|
 Fulbright Scholar and artist | |
| Born | 29 May 1951 Leklebi-Kame, in the Volta Region of Ghana, West Africa |
| Occupations | Artist, educator |
| Known for | Wood carving |
Cephas Yao Agbemenu (born 29 May 1951) is a Ghanaian sculptor, and educator. He is an art professor who teaches at the Kenyatta University in Nairobi, Kenya. He is a sculptor and a traditional African wood carver who sees parallels between his carvings and life.
Biography
[edit]Cephas Yao Agbemenu was born on 29 May 1951 in Leklebi-Kame, in the Volta Region of Ghana, West Africa.
He grew up in Ghana, going to school where art and crafts lessons were a part of the curriculum. He also learned farming, backyard gardening, fishing, trapping, and hunting, tasks that helped him to develop his coordination and visual skills.
Agbemenu went on to secondary school at Evangelical Presbyterian Secondary School in Hohoe, Volta Region, where he took his Ordinary-Level School Certificate in art, English language, Ewe language, maths, general science, principles of accounts, and geography.[citation needed]
He then attended Kpandu Secondary School, Volta Region. He completed this program with Advanced-Level School Certificate, his major subjects being art, economics, geography, and general studies in the year of 1972.[citation needed]
In June 1976 he completed a bachelor's degree in Fine Art with First Class Honours at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi, Ghana, studying in sculpture, painting, art history, English literature, art appreciation, and African studies.[citation needed]
Agbemenu then obtained his Master of Fine Arts Degree from the State University of New York at Buffalo (February 1980).[1] His major subject was sculpture, including wood carving, P.O.P,[clarification needed] concrete and bronze casting, with painting, drawing and art history as his minors.
Teaching and career
[edit]Agbemenu started to teach at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology in 1977, teaching on art, sculpture and drawing.[citation needed]
He has taught African art, sculpture, and Black history in a global perspective in many different countries, along with ceramics, African history, culture, European art history and African carvings.[citation needed]
In 1987 he started as a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Fine Art, Kenyatta University, Nairobi, Kenya, teaching classes on topics like contemporary African art, sculpture, and traditional African wood carving.[2]
Fulbright Scholar
[edit]Agbemenu was awarded the prestigious Fulbright Scholarship, which enabled him to visit to the United States to teach at two colleges in Pennsylvania.[citation needed] The first was Reading Area Community College in the city of Reading where he gave lessons on African wood carving and participated in a dialogue titled "The Spiritual Dimension in Art" with art professor Tullio DeSantis on 2 March 2010.[citation needed] Agbemenu has said: "It's not necessary to pursue art, but I think it's necessary to pursue artistic thinking; the thinking that there is an alternative solution."[3]
Agbemenu then travelled to Montgomery County Community College in Blue Bell, Pennsylvania, c/o[clarification needed] Dr. Aaron Shatzman from January 2010 to June 2010[4] as part of the scholar-in-residence program.[5] Agbemenu taught contemporary African art and culture in addition to conducting studio classes in traditional African wood carving. The basic tools used for his wood carving classes were straight and spoon gouges, chisels, carving knives, and veiners.[citation needed] He was quoted as saying: "America is seen as the citadel of knowledge and power. That is why many of us chose to come to the United States for graduate studies. My presence at Montgomery County Community College will be measured in both theory and practice, in terms of cross-cultural understanding in this period of globalization."[6]
African proverbs
[edit]Agbemenu was a member of and contributor to the African Proverbs, Stories, and Sayings Committee chaired by Father Joseph Healey founded in Nairobi, Kenya. In June 2008, Professor Agbemenu was awarded a grant to compile a booklet of 100 Ewe Ghana Proverbs[7] with African Symbols as illustrations of the proverbs, translated into English. The work has been published on the www.afriprov.org website under the theme of "Reconciliation and Peace".[8]
A Collection of Ewe Proverbs was published with illustrations and translations by Cephas Yao Agbemenu on 1 November 2010.[9]
References
[edit]- ↑ "Welcome to the University at Buffalo – University at Buffalo". buffalo.edu. Retrieved 19 April 2018.
- ↑ Kenyatta University, Nairobi, Kenya Archived 17 August 2010 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 15 June 2010
- ↑ Greta Cuyler, "African art form comes to Reading" Archived 3 October 2011 at the Wayback Machine, 4 May 2010. Retrieved 25 May 2010
- ↑ Visiting Scholar Directory Archived 6 May 2010 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 25 May 2010.
- ↑ "Cephas Yao Agbemenu teaches at MCCC" Archived 27 May 2010 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 25 May 2010.
- ↑ "MCCC awarded Fulbright Scholar Program"[permanent dead link]. Retrieved 1 June 2010.
- ↑ Proverbs Notes Archived 6 July 2010 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 24 May 2010.
- ↑ Reconciliation and Peace Archived 18 August 2016 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 2 June 2010.
- ↑ A Collection Of Ewe Proverbs, Cephas Yao Agbemenu. Retrieved 8 November 2010.
External links
[edit]
- Tullio DeSantis, "The Universal Language", Readingeagle ARTology, 23 February 2010. Reading Eagle
- Cephas Yao Agbemenu Information. Retrieved 25 May 2010
- 1951 births
- Living people
- Academic staff of Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology
- Academic staff of Kenyatta University
- Ghanaian sculptors
- Ghanaian male sculptors
- 21st-century Ghanaian sculptors
- 21st-century Ghanaian educators
- People from Volta Region
- University at Buffalo alumni
- Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology alumni