Arts and Culture Ghana Project #11107

Support African Illustrators of Children's Stories

by Golden Baobab

Project Report | Dec 12, 2013
The launch of the Golden Baobab Prizes for Illustrations

By Nanama B. Acheampong | Coordinator of the Golden Baobab Prizes

The 2014 Poster for the new illustration prizes

Dear Friends,

The fourth and final quarter of 2013 will soon come to an end and we are happy to update you on the latest developments for our illustration prizes.

We are pleased to inform you that we have officially launched the annual, pan-African, $7,500 Golden Baobab Prizes for Illustrations. These new prizes, which are the biggest of their kind, were launched on November 28, 2013, at La Villa Boutique Hotel in Accra, Ghana. There are two awards under these prizes: The Golden Baobab Prize for Illustrators and The Golden Baobab Prize for Rising Illustrators.

At the launch, in the spirit of creativity, guests were given pieces of paper on which to draw self-portraits. This set the tone for a fun and exciting evening. Deborah Ahenkorah, Executive Director of Golden Baobab, then shared the organization’s hopes for the new prizes, saying Golden Baobab aims to discover, motivate and celebrate African illustrators who are passionate about creating beautiful illustrations for children. The President of the Ghana Book Publishers Association (GBPA), Mr. Asare Yamoah, was present to help Golden Baobab launch the Golden Baobab Prizes for Illustrations and unveil the 2014 poster which was designed by the talented Ghanaian illustrator, Hanson Akatti.

In a short speech, Mr. Yamoah congratulated Golden Baobab on its new initiative and spoke on its importance for the children’s book industry in Ghana and the rest of Africa. He stated that although adult African literature is well sought after, African children’s literature leaves much to be desired in terms of presentation. He mentioned that the new illustration prizes would go a long way to make African children’s books more attractive and thus, encourage more children to develop a love for reading.

Other guests who attended the launch included Larry Otoo, renowned Ghanaian painter, Kathy Knowles, children’s book writer and publisher, Jarreth Merz, Ghanaian film producer whose work includes “An African Election,” a documentary on Ghana’s 2012 presidential elections, Giulia Tavolato, the Country Manager for Reach for Change, and other Golden Baobab supporters.

We say a huge thank you to you for making this project possible by your kind donations. Because of your support, these prizes are not only the biggest of their kind, but they are also fully pan-African; All marketing material will be translated into French, Arabic, Portuguese and a variety of African languages to enable people from all over the continent to enter.

Having said, there remains a deficit that needs to be raised. We encourage you to give a little more to make this dream a full reality. We also encourage you to tell everyone you know about Golden Baobab, a visionary social enterprise based in Accra, Ghana, whose purpose is to ensure that quality and enthralling African books get into the hands of African children everywhere.

We wish you the very best for this Christmas season. Please find some photos from the launch below.

Deborah Ahenkorah and Giulia Tavolato

A guest drawing a self-portrait

The unveiling of the 2013 prizes poster

Guests at the launch

Mr. Asare Yamoah, President of GBPA

Links:

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Sep 5, 2013
Getting ready to announce the Illustrators' Prize

By Dorothy L. Hammond | Publishing Coordinator

Dear Friends,

The third quarter of 2013 has come to an end and we are buzzing with excitement about what the rest of the year holds for us.

August 14, 2013 was an active and exciting day at Golden Baobab. Eight of Ghana’s budding illustrators gathered in our office for a workshop session with Laia Esque. Laia Esque-Durrande, the Children’s and Young Adult’s Literature Editor at Molino, Spain’s leading publishing house that specializes in children and young adult books offered consultancy services to Golden Baobab for 2 weeks. This workshop was to provide from a publisher’s perspective, what is expected of illustrators. Some of the issues that were addressed in the workshop were how portfolios must be presented, how to experiment with layouts of typography and illustrations, the importance of consistency and diversity and the need to let your imagination run wild when it comes to illustrating for children. It was exhilarating to hear the illustrators share the dream works they would like to bring to life with colour and some strokes. From illustrating a multicultural Ananse story, to illustrating a story about an African boy who goes to space, to a walk-through book, we know our illustrators have enthralling and magical ideas that the world is yet to see! Go to this link and see some photos http://on.fb.me/14qxRSH

On September 22, 2013, we shall host “A Night of African Stories” at the Silverbird Cinemas, Accra Mall, Accra, Ghana. There will be the screening of a classic African animation film, Kirikou and the Sorceress. This event will also feature the announcement of the brand new Golden Baobab Prize for Children’s Illustrations that YOU have helped to make possible. Plans are far advanced to launch this prize in October. This will be the first Pan-African Children’s Illustration Prize. We have realized that you cannot create enthralling children’s books without creative and stimulating illustrations. It is our hope that these illustrations will translate into beautiful books that African children would fall in love with.

We could not have done it without you and we are grateful for your support and for sharing in our vision. We still haven’t reached our fundraising target. Do tell your friends about Golden Baobab, a visionary non-profit in Accra, Ghana, whose dream is to give African children a voice through books. Please feel free to share this link

Links:

Pictures from the Illustrators' Workshop with Laia Esque

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Jun 6, 2013
Project Update

By Alida Uwera | Assistant Director

Dear Friend,

As we end the second quarter of 2013, we are excited about new developments undertaken to ensure the successful launch of the Golden Baobab pan-African illustrators prize later this year.

Towards the end of last quarter we worked with a young Ghanaian illustrator, Sena Ahadji to design a poster for the Golden Baobab Prizes 2013. The poster ignited extensive interest in the work of African illustrators and led to five commercial engagements locally and abroad for the illustrator. As we continue to expose new illustrator talent, we hope to garner more interest and support for this crucial component of African children’s literature. Our new website also features illustrations by various illustrators.

This quarter we embarked on an innovative project to garner interest and recognition for interesting illustrations done by African illustrators. This project was called Title Tuesday. Every Tuesday, we posted a different illustration on our facebook page and invited our community to come up with the most fitting title for a book with a cover page of the illustration. We received great response and engagement from Golden Baobab supporters on Facebook for this activity. Most importantly, we introduced the works of several talented African illustrators to new audiences. We head back from some illustrators who were thrilled at the support we gave their work. These various interactions with illustrators and the Golden Baobab community is a way for us to engage with the illustrators’ world and to better understand how we can serve them as we design the Illustrators Prize.

Lastly, in order to ensure the creation of enthralling African children’s literature, we are developing a corporate partnerships plan that will bolster all our prizes including the Illustrators Prize. This quarter we brought on a strategic development fellow, Tiffany Morris, to design a corporate engagement strategy that identifies great brands that the Golden Baobab literature and illustrator prizes can partner with to bolster the prestige and importance of the prizes while introducing them to new audiences in throughout Africa.

Your continued partnership is even more important at this point as we get ready to launch the prize. Please consider supporting this cause financially in order to reach our goal of $15,000. You can also tell a friend or family member about this wonderful initiative to facilitate the creation of African children’s literary content.

Wishing you the very best!

Links:

organization website

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