This August from 12-21, Maggie Sade will be participating in one of the most important cultural festivals in Ghana, and arguably West Africa. The Chale Wote Street Art Festival.
Her Nature-inspired installation for mental health awareness is called GreenHouse Mentality – A Place To Hold Feelings🍃 and will be held in the former human trafficking base Ussher Fort which was built in 1649 and operated by the Dutch colonialists and occupied until 1868.
The fort previously served as a prison, until 1993. Dr. Kwame Nkrumah, Ghana’s first president and a fore figure in the struggle for independence, was imprisoned there during the colonial era. Ussher Fort currently houses a museum, as well as the offices of the Monuments Division of GMMB.
The installation poses the questions.
- What does it do to have your feelings held?
- How does this limit our experience of life?
- What boundaries are created when we do not give space to feel?
Maggie Sade is a holistic mental health therapist and a floral designer and is known for her Flower Therapy workshops.
Maggie says.
I am eager to explore what it is that stops an individual from allowing one to fully give space to oneself to feel. My installation The GreenHouse Mentality: “A Place To Hold Feelings “ is a nature-inspired interactive piece.
All are welcome but I particularly encourage us as the surviving descendants of traumatized Africans with the support of the therapeutic and healing presents of nature to prioritize feelings of joy as well as unashamedly acknowledge the passed down generational trauma that still affects our mental health and social programming until this day.
To have these feelings held softy with love and compassion in a beautifully curated space designed to influence feelings of safety and well-being. For us to reimagine how we interact with historical spaces on African soil that once caused heartbreak.
To reclaim space and look at how we view and hold space for our mental health outside of the European standards.
How did Africans view mental health and self-care before the interruption of our cultural development and traditional practices?”
The installation will be constructed from mainly locally sourced discarded raw materials and pruning waste. Aromatherapy will be a key feature in the design.
CHALE WOTE Street Art Festival is an alternative platform that brings art, music, design, dance and performance out into the streets, attracting over 50,000 visitors from around the world. . The community-based festival is an annual event which takes place in James Town one of Accra’s most historic communities and targets exchanges between Ghana-based and international artists creating and appreciating art together.
For more about Maggie or to get in touch to partner/sponsor the installation “FlowerTalk https://www.flowertalkofficial.com/about email: flowertalkberlin@gmail.com @flowertalkofficial
