Live and die in kantamanto

T-shirts and Flour sacks

25 feet X 20 feet

2013

I voiced out the concern of marketers by collecting 453 t-shirts and 21 flour sacks from the Kantamanto market to create a piece with the text that I borrowed from this daily traders out of their own frequently used statements “yen tu kantamanto ye be wu waha” we will never vacate, we will die in this market.

In May 2013 the mayor of Accra ordered immediate relocation of the market to make available the premises for rebuilding. The market was raised down by fire in the wake of the trend for major markets in Ghana. This coupled with lost of properties led to series of demonstrations in protest to government’s position. They chant many songs including the phrase above. They cited cases that road users are allowed to use portions of roads under construction thus stressing the essence of their refusal to empty the premises.
They where authorized to use the space for 1 year while the government takes another decision.

Photo credit: Serge Attukwei Clottey