araba s. ankuma

d e s i g n e r

 
projects.


  mdst wrld.
  ABEYA
  RUWA
  Plasticwater Bodies
  Discarded
  WET
  These Hands
  A Closet Jam


About


“Somewhere between storyteller and systems thinker.”





As a storyteller, my work has always sought to unveil the invisible narratives that bind us together as human beings.  My journey began with documentary photography but through research and an MFA in Design for Sustainability, my practice has  evolved to include principles of sustainability and systems thinking translated through photo, collage and experience design.

I am also a Ghanaian-American and child of immigrants. I realize that so much of our chance for a decent future is rooted in our understanding and learnings of the past. My designs focus on shifting perception around the value created from what has been discarded whether through objects, images or physical spaces.




TALKS

“Get Bodied: Recapturing the Body Image”, "Rise and Run" TEDxPenn Conference, Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts, Philadelphia, USA, 2017
"Invisible. Invincible”, TEDxPenn Launch Event, Institute for Contemporary Art (ICA), Philadelphia, USA, 2016

EXPERIENCES/EXHIBITIONS

WET. LIMBO ACCRA, Accra, Ghana. May 2022
The New Black Vanguard. International Travelling Exhibition, 2021-2022.
JUST ENOUGH, Peach Studio NYC, Queens New York, USA 2021
“c.f. film studios presents: introduction” Space Place Gallery, Nizhny Tagil, Russia 2018
Patricia & Howard Silverstein 2017 Havana Studio Abroad, Charles Addams Gallery, Philadelphia, USA 2017
Visual Studies Senior Thesis Exhibition, Fox Gallery, Philadelphia, US, 2017
Chi Boys, YO:U, Chicago, USA, 2017
HUMAN: Projections of Intersectionality, Philomathean Society, Philadelphia, USA, 2016

APPEARED IN

Whetstone Magazine, “THESE HANDS” photography essay. COVER STORY. Volume 09: Origin Foraging, April 2022. Print.
“Reframing the Future” photographic print sale, fundraising initiative, 2020.
Off Kilter Magazine, “Barry Farms” photo essay, Issue 004: A New Era, December 2019