BURNING WHITE TRASH MAN

Ussher Fort, Accra-Ghana
Documented by Julia Gyemant and Va-Bene Elikem Fiatsi
Empowered by Perforcraze International Artist Residency (pIAR)

Ussher Fort is a colonial fort in Accra, Ghana. It was built by the Dutch in 1649. 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.

Every year the fort opens the door to the annual Chale Wote Street Art Festival for exhibitions, installations and performances regards to the healing power of art.
„BURNING WHITE TRASH MAN“ is an art intervention piece based on John Herman’s experience as an inmate (POW) in prison, where he got tortured and raped for 33 days because of his political-military activities alongside different revolutionary freedom movements in Africa, Europe and the Middle East.

The performance explores the multiple ties between personal and collective trauma, perpetrators and victims, and the struggle with one’s own demons and the ghosts of the past.