LOST AND FOUND
more or less
every ten years
a change in my work
one thing led to another
more or less
King of the Ashanti Otumfuo Opoku Ware II in Kumasi, Ghana 1995 | Photo: National Geographic, No.4, 1996
As a tenured professor at Pforzheim University, Germany I was granted sabbatical leave on condition that any research I carried out should benefit the students.
‘Back to Africa’, where I spent my youth, was my spontaneous response. I also recalled my former professor, Max Fröhlich, telling us about the unique lost-wax casting technique of the Ashanti in Ghana.
I was privileged to work in a small community of traditional Ashanti male casters in Kumasi. Nana Poku Amponsah, a chief and the Ashanti king’s personal goldsmith, granted me a two-month apprenticeship.
The field research is published in a book, ‘Lost and Found, the Asante Trail to Rings’, published 1999 / reprinted 2008.
This experience changed my artistic focus. Casting became my passion and subsequently led to numerous workshops.
