Untitled, So Urgent oo0

February 2019, crazinisT artisT studiO Kumasi.

This is a project I developed in collaboration with Constantin VonRosenschild artist from Paris , France at perfocraZe International ArtistResidency ( pIAR ) January/February edition Kumasi . Which I participated in, an incubation hub which allows artists both local and international studio space for one month to research and develop their own project.

In a group exhibition titled So Urgent oooo which allows audience and community interaction with our final project. The work is an installation of miniature coffins carved out of wood with termites feeding on a piece of dead wood in a rectangular glass house and a video installation of a host of termites who are constantly working through teamwork on their architectural structure. The work mimics funerals, the rite of passage in relation to life and death and rituals of decay and evidence of time, space and history . Also the interconnection between our modern and developing cities as an influence from nature, history and other special creatures who share with us the same environment. The issue of how human society relates to each other due to differences in our social cultural background, nature and its inhabitants .

About Me

Martin Toloku is Ghanaian multidisciplinary artist born 1992 in Adidome the Volta region of Ghana.

He graduated in 2013 from Sogakofe Senior High School, ( SOGASCO ), where he studied visual art majoring in ceramics and later took an apprenticeship in sculpture with a traditional carver.

Martin Toloku’s practice evolved over the years from carving to installation, video work, studio practice, live performances and collaboration with both humans and animals (usually termites). He is fascinated about the materiality of 'process of decay', death, life, time, space and nature with its inhabitants. Collecting dead and rotten wood from rivers, streams, sea, lakes, forests and his environment Toloku attempts to recreate conceptual and performative compositions of both life and death into daily experiences. However, he seeks to experiment and inquire into decay as metaphor while in his performances emotionally and spiritually challenging the audience in facing their own sense of mortality.

Toloku has featured in several exhibitions and have participated in international artists residencies such as TERRITOIRE DE CRÉATION 5ieme édition (2015 Lome Togo), perfocraZe International Artist residency (2019 Kumasi, Ghana), Ghana Must Go Forward (2018 art workshop supported by Nubuke Foundation, Basecamp Initiative and British council). He also participated in Chale wote street art festival Jamestown Accra, 2017 to 2019 and several group exhibitions including, "tomorrow" in Alliance Française Accra, "ADeakyeabia - Enubueke", the Alliance Française Kumasi organised by pIAR and "CONSTERNATION" at Nkabom literary art festival 2019.

Toloku is currently working on a new project titled DECAY.