Dei Centre for the Study of Contemporary African Art

Collection
The permanent collection of the Dei Centre embodies a distinctive history in contemporary African art. With a permanent collection that includes works of art that spans decades, Africa and the globe, the Centre welcomes visitors to over 50 years of art; from Asafo Flags to thought provoking contemporary pieces.

The Dei Family Collection is conceived as an integrated whole that is continuously enhanced in response to emerging talent and to its mandate to fill in critical historical gaps. Always containing current works by living artists, it maintains this policy through selective purchases and gifts, including some from the artists themselves. The collections form a unique, shared global collection that reflects the rich trajectory of contemporary African art, especially Ghana.

The collection also forms the basis for further study and research by the centre, school groups, students, researchers, fellow curators and specialists from Ghana and abroad.

Research/Study
As a learning laboratory and forum for inquiry, exploration, and discourse in modern and contemporary art, the Dei Centre works in multiple ways: to facilitate art education by leading an annual symposium on African art and culture, displays a proportion of its artefacts both as long-running exhibitions and themed, temporary exhibitions, establishing posts for National Service post-graduates from Kwame Nkrumah University Of Science and Technology’s art and art history program, developing academic initiatives such as courses and internships on conservation and art administration in collaboration with New York University (NYU), and organizing cultural and educational events and programming for local artists and art enthusiasts. The Dei Centre will continue to develop its Joe Nkrumah library, in memory of the Centre’s former chief curator, to provide necessary resources and literature for local artists and students

Library
The Joe Nkrumah Art Library founded in 2009 is the research and study center for the Dei Centre. As befits the Centre’s mission the library collects, preserves, and makes available scholarly resources in all formats, with a particularly strong emphasis on contemporary African art. It has a growing, non-circulating collection of titles including monographs, auction and exhibition catalogues, periodicals, artists’ books and ephemera. The library supports the research needs and educational mission of the Centre with regard to acquisitions, exhibitions, publications, and cultural programs. It also provides access to and professional assistance with the use of the Library to Members, docents, students, scholars, university and college faculty, and others in the community who wish to learn more about artists, contemporary African art and the visual arts in Ghana.

Events/Exhibitions
The Dei Centre hosts an active program of events presenting a wide range of subject matter, media, and time periods that illustrate recent developments in the visual arts, along with new interpretations of major artists and art movements.

Exhibitions include regular thematic programming on the Dei Foundation’s collection, travel exchange exhibitions between the Dei Centre and several New York University international art sites, and collaborative showcases throughout the city of Accra with local art institutions. The Dei Centre also hosts and juries annual showcases of regional artwork, presenting purchase awards for art materials and supplies to selected artists