El Anatsui: Background
El Anatsui was born on February 4th, 1944 in Anyanko, Ghana. The town in which he grew up is surrounded on one side by a lagoon and the other by the sea. Anatsui remembers people concerning themselves with fishing and harvesting salt for most of the time, while weaving in the off-season. Although the practice of weaving for artistic purposes was never taught, it is clear that the practice made a huge influence in what would later be some of his greatest artistic accomplishments.
Anatsui got his BA from the College of Art, University of Science and Technology in Kumasi, Ghana in 1969. During his time in college, he studied sculpture, painting, and drawing in the Western Tradition. He followed his undergraduate education with a postgraduate diploma in Art Education, and in 1975 began teaching at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka.
As an educator, instead of teaching students to create art with a style similar to his own, he teaches a way of seeing the world that can be summed up with four main lessons:
Anatsui got his BA from the College of Art, University of Science and Technology in Kumasi, Ghana in 1969. During his time in college, he studied sculpture, painting, and drawing in the Western Tradition. He followed his undergraduate education with a postgraduate diploma in Art Education, and in 1975 began teaching at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka.
As an educator, instead of teaching students to create art with a style similar to his own, he teaches a way of seeing the world that can be summed up with four main lessons:
- Use your personal history as inspiration.
- Look to your environment for materials.
- Travel as often as you can, and bring your experiences to bear on your work.
- Allow for the possibility of chance - something new and wonderful may come of it (Binder, Gee, Ghelerter & Weible, 2011).
- He grew up with 32 siblings
- As a child he was fascinated with the letter "G"
- When it comes time to install his work, he doesn't give instructions because he believes there is no one way that they should be displayed (Segment: El Anatsui in Change, 2012).