Material Wealth Exchange (Commonwealth)

This project was a collaboration between Proudtobeme and Eunice Bossman-Okai. 

The project, Material Wealth Exchange, aims to bring the community together through education, skill exchange, and interaction to create an exhibition of 3D paintings across the Commonwealth. The skills exchanged really involved a wealth of knowledge and material exchange.

The British Empire formed the Commonwealth, which assisted its 54 member states in trading with one another. This trade relationship mostly involved the exchange of natural resources. 

The purpose of this project is to source some of these materials to utilise them in creating art pieces. The materials were sourced from five different countries on five continents in the global south.

The materials used were mostly natural materials, which had a lot to do with their culture and food. The countries were New Zealand, Guyana, Bangladesh, Ghana and Uganda. 

The natural materials used were banana leaves (Musa), used to serve food in Bangladesh and to cook in Uganda, the popular dish known as Luwombo. Also used were green-lipped mussel shells from New Zealand, sugar cane from Guyana, used in making sugar and Prekese (Tetra pleura tetraptera), a spice in Ghana used mostly by the Ashanti to cook. 

The process involved making 3D paintings with these natural materials.