As part of a special relationship that is growing between the design communities of Ghana and the Netherlands, WDCD will host a breakout session called ‘Osu Night Market Reimagined’. The objective of the workshop is to investigate the role of design in the economic empowerment of communities in Ghana, West Africa.
Last February during the urban design conference ‘Accra Revisited’ in the capital of Ghana the Ghana Design Network (GDN) was launched. The Ghana Design Network is a not-for-profit NGO aimed at promoting creative business services as a strategic management tool for critical flywheel effects on Ghana’s national economy.
Ghana Design Network is a joint initiative by the Association of Dutch Designers (BNO), the Ghana Netherlands Business & Culture Council (GNBCC), the Ghanaian TAG communications design group and the Institute of Packaging Ghana (IOPG). It is meant to establish a community of businesses, designers, educators and learners from Ghana and the Netherlands. Through a series of meetings, conferences, workshops and other activities the network hopes to expand the scope of Design appreciation among practitioners and businesses and to create a viable ecology for future growth.
Platform for sharing
‘We want to give designers opportunities to develop and hone their professional skills, to give practicing and future designers a platform to share professional experiences and to educate the business community and government in Ghana on the value of good design for their business performance in terms of profit and brand equity,’ says program manager of GDN Peter Kersten, former chairman and current advisor international affairs of the Association of Dutch Designers (BNO).
GDN is supported in kind by the Dutch government for a trial period of one year in the form of six or seven Dutch design experts who will present workshops, lectures or other interventions in Ghana on specific pre-agreed subjects.
Osu Market
The breakout session at WDCD is facilitated by ArchiAfrika chairman and Prince Claus Fund partner, Joe Osae-Addo (Ghana) together with Ghanaian branding duo, Norkor Duah and Barbara Davies (AdVantage Group). ‘Osu Night Market Reimagined’ attendees will be introduced to the bustling Osu Market through pictures, videos and more, analysing it within the context of Accra as a model that could be duplicated countrywide.
Participants will then brainstorm and explore proposed design interventions, within a set timeframe. The goal of the exercise is to generate a workable concept, which could be developed and presented to a larger audience. This will kick-start workshops and master classes in Osu, to build on these initial ideas that will later be implemented in the city. With the help of private and public sector collaborators, academia and a driving force from the market vendors, this process of design will spur the local economy. This is what ‘inno-native’ design, a term coined by Osae-Addo, can do.
Video: an impression of Osu Night Market in Accra by TV series CHALE!