Tonight No Poetry Will Serve: Joseph Awuah-Darko

Tonight No Poetry Will Serve by Alfredo Jaar offers a powerful reflection on the limits of language and the role of creative expression in times of tragedy. A lament for today’s darkness and a call to find the words to confront these tragic hours, the bold new public intervention displays the arresting title of a poem by Adrienne Rich (1929–2012), a figure of inspiration for Jaar since the 1980s, who observed the limits of words in times of unthinkable violence: “no poetry can serve to mitigate such acts, they nullify language itself,” she wrote in 2011. Throughout November 2023, Alfredo Jaar and CIRCA commissioned a series of poetic dialogues, curated by Vittoria de Franchis, from international writers, thinkers and speakers. Giving voice to those who find themselves silenced or without words, the poems hope to achieve Rich’s ambition that creative expression can reconcile conflicting realities.

We are going through a very repressive moment, when nuance is lost and free speech is threatened. But I strongly believe that the spaces of art and culture must remain spaces of freedom. Artists will not be intimidated. In this environment, I have turned to the words of anti-war campaigner and poet Adrienne Rich to reflect both the limits of language and the frustration felt by many that voices for peace and justice cannot sound out as clearly as we wish. And, as part of the CIRCA commission, I am turning to today’s poets, writers, and artists, to support a forum for creative expression where the clear-sighted demands of humanity and empathy can be heard. In these times when politics have failed us miserably, art and culture are our only hope. Art is like the air we breathe, without art, life would be unlivable. Art creates spaces of resistance, spaces of hope.

DEADLINES: A Poem by Joseph Awuah-Darko

IN SHADOWS CAST BY TOWERING WALLS,
A SYMPHONY OF SILENCE REIGNS.
IN LANDS WHERE BORDERS SCAR THE EARTH,
WHERE DREAMS ARE BOUND BY LINES,
OPPRESSION WHISPERS THROUGH THE AIR,
BUT ALAS, I HAVE DEADLINES.
IN MYANMAR’S TROUBLED HEART,
WHERE FREEDOM’S FLICKER PRIMES,
THE ROHINGYA’S SILENT PLEA,
BREAKS THROUGH THE MUTED CHIMES.
THE WORLD AVERTS ITS GAZE AGAIN,
BUT ALAS, I HAVE DEADLINES.
WITHIN CONGO’S VERDANT HEART,
WHERE RESOURCES REDEFINE,
A TALE OF EXPLOITATION,
A NARRATIVE MALIGNS.
AMIDST THE LUSH COMPLEXITY,
WHERE HUMANITY DECLINES,
A CALL FOR HEALING LINGERS,
BUT ALAS, I HAVE DEADLINES.
IN GAZA’S HALLOWED STREETS,
WHERE CONFLICT UNDERMINES,
THE DREAMS OF CHILDREN CAUGHT IN STRIFE,
THEIR INNOCENCE RESIGNS.
IN THE SHADOW OF A BARRICADE,
WHERE A GENERATION PINES,
THEIR PLEAS FOR FREEDOM PIERCE THE AIR,
BUT ALAS, I HAVE DEADLINES.
DEADLINES.
DEAD – LINES.
DEAD – LINES.
DEAD. LINES.
LET OUR WORDS SERVE AS ARCHITECTS,
CONSTRUCTING BRIDGES OF EMPATHY,
LET US SHINE A LIGHT IN THE SHADOWS,
ALLOWING TRUTH TO PERMEAT.
LET US DRAW A LINE ON THE DEAD COUNTED.
CEASE. CEASE. CEASE.

Joseph Awuah-Darko, a recognized Forbes 30 Under 30 Alumnus, is the Founder and Director of Noldor Artist Residency and the President of the Institute Museum of Ghana in Accra, Ghana. Noldor is essentially a two-armed institution that includes a residency program for emerging African artists, and a year-long fellowship programme focused on nurturing budding to mid-career African artists on the continent and in the diaspora.

Awuah-Darko is not only a seasoned collector of international repute but also a practicing artist-curator having debuted his solo exhibition in 2019 with Gallery 1957. His works have been placed in several private and institutional collection’s including the Stanley Museum of Art. His major curatorial undertaking was in Berlin with Peres Projects where he put together the gallery’s first African Contemporary group show in 20 years this September. Awuah-Darko recently completed a residency at the prestigious Nirox Foundation [2023] at the Cradle of Human Kind (South Africa).

He has actively nurtured his understanding of global art market dynamics and masterfully applied this knowledge as a cultural entrepreneur and institutional thinker with accomplishments widely documented through outlets such as Financial Times, The Arts Newspaper, Forbes and Art Forum. After attending the Sotheby’s Institute of Art in 2019, he received a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration within a Liberal Arts program from Ashesi University in 2021. In the course of his bachelor’s degree, he briefly deferred to work at the Sulger-Buel Gallery in London.

Three years since establishing Noldor, the institution has successfully mentored and trained over 35 artists across the African continent with a growing team of 33 staff while partnering with over 15 gallery programs internationally.