Yonga Arts

I am Oscar Korbla Mawuli Awuku also known as Yonga Arts.

I was born on the 18/05/1999.

I had my basic education at Senajoy Preparatory School and secondary school education at Mawuli senior high and currently reading Commercial Arts in Painting at Takoradi Technical University.

I would like to share a story with you. Thank you for your time.

Asase Yaa is the wife of Nyame the Sky deity, who created the universe. Asase Yaa gave birth to the two children, Bea and Tano. Bea is also named Bia. Asase Yaa is also the mother of Anansi, the trickster, and divine stepmother of the sacred high chiefs. Asase Yaa is very powerful, though no temples,are dedicated to her, instead, she is worshiped in the agricultural fields of Bono. Asase Yaa's favored Bono people are occupationally workers in the agricultural fields and planet Earth is her symbol.

The Bono people regard Asase Ya as Mother Earth, the earth goddess of fertility, the upholder of truth, and the creator Goddess who comes to fetch Bono people's souls to the other world (Planet Jupiter) at the time of death. She is credited as being the nurturer of the earth and is considered to provide sustenance for all. When a member of the Bono people wants to prove their credibility, they touch their lips to the soil of Bono and recite the Asase Yaa Prayer-Poem. Another tradition holds that because Thursday is reserved as Asase Ya's day, the Bono people generally abstain from tilling the land of Bono.

Worship of the Asase Ya goddess was transported via the transatlantic slave trade and was documented to had been acknowledged by enslaved Akan or Coronantee living in Jamaica. Jamaican slave owners did not believe in Christianity for the Coromantee and left them to their own beliefs. Hence Bono's spiritual system was dominant on the plantation. According to Jamaican historian and slave owner Edward long, creole descendants of the Akan coupled with other newly arrived Coromantee joined in observation and worship of the Bono goddess Asase Yaa (the English People recorded erroneously as 'Assarci'). They showed their worship by pouring libations and offering up harvested foods. Other Bono Abosom were also reported to be worshiped. This was the only deity spiritual system on the island, as other deities identities in the 18th century were obliterated because of the large population of enslaved Coromantee in Jamaica, according to Edward Long and other historians who observed their slaves.

I call my Body Arts Anansinisim, which was derived from the Character Kweku Anansi from one of my favorite African Ghanaian tales back in the day. To me Anansi has always been a creative person despite the fact that in his stories he is considered a character of mischief. When you take a close look at his web you will see all of these patterns and symbols embedded in there. I believe when the patterns are enriched on your skin it creates a connection between you and your ancestors.

Women are one of my favorite subjects I love to work on because they stand as a symbol of fertility and responsibility.

I was born and currently reside in the capital city of Accra Ghana.

I am a Visual Artist, I am into canvas painting, digital painting, sculpture, and Body Arts.

I happened to be brought up by my mother along the line of childhood. So basically I grew up from a broken home were my mum had to be the bread winner for the family. This inspired me greatly and over the years growing up as a kid all I ever wanted to do is depict the strength of women and also the ability to procreate and pass on generations of knowledge to their children both physically and psychologically.

I mostly represent them with tales of great women here in Ghana and deities alike.

The best part of my work is sitting back and watching the audience connect to it and wonder how it was made. But aside that, I had the opportunity to collaborate with top brands here in Ghana like Becca ft Sarkodie on a song titled Nana. Bisa kedi, Twinsdontbeg, Culb Ghana for their bottle launch in 2019 and couple of others.

I am currently working on a project to depict our culture and history through arts and capturing most of them via videography and photography.

What I am looking at next is to get my works not only to connect with my people but also to others both in the diaspora alike.

The pandemic contributed greatly to my arts because it helped me meditate and research more into our history and also had the opportunity to bring more ideas to live.

I believe everyone is an artist and if you look deeply into yourself you would find a great picture to bring out for your audience.

Vocal readers it was an honor to allow Oscar to share with you. Be sure to connect with Oscar on Linkedin and support his journey.