Photo exhibition – ‘Old Parks, New Futures'
Associate Professor Karen Lauterbach highlights the project 'Old Parks, New Futures: Documenting the Uses of Open Space in an African City'. The project is funded by the British Academy and focuses on the multifaceted and historical aspects of open spaces such as the Jackson/Jubilee Park.
In September 2023, Director and Associate Professor Karen Lauterbach, participated in the final event and photo exhibition of the British Academy funded project ‘Old Parks, New Futures’. The project has run for over two years and has focused on the historical and multiple uses of open urban space in Kumasi, Ghana. More particularly, the project has focused on Jackson / Jubilee Park located at Asem in Kumasi and bordering the Yalwa Zongo and Fante New Town. The project analysed the political, religious, and everyday uses of the park. This included its significance during the colonial era, its role in the establishment of economic livelihoods as well as the ways in which the park plays into memory making and social belonging for the Zongo community.
The event, that marked the end of the project, took form as a photo exhibition featuring selected photographs taken by Vera Obeng during the course of the project. The official opening of the exhibition was done by Asemhene Nana Kofi Kyei Baafour II and guided by Manuel Jojo Manu-Osafo, a member of the project team and a PhD student in history at the University of Ghana. During the exhibition, there was a vivid interest in the history of the park with several of the participants sharing their histories and experiences. One of the key findings of the project is the role open urban space plays in terms of creating inclusivity in the city. Although the park has served multiples purposes and has changed in from a grass field to a paved space in its almost one hundred years existence, it plays a crucial role for the interaction of the various communities living in its vicinity.
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