Laís Andrade, Bona Dyssou, and Sümer Erek at Nubuke Foundation

The 2025 CDCD Residency at the Nubuke Foundation in Accra brought together three international artists—Laís Andrade, Bona Dyssou, and Sümer Erek—for two weeks of artistic research, dialogue, and production. Despite an initial setback due to COVID-19, the residency fostered meaningful exchanges on themes of colonial histories, memory, and identity.

Laís Andrade presented My Ray of Sunshine, a poetic video installation that imagines the voices of enslaved mothers separated from their children. She also carried out research on the Tabom community and the legacies of Portuguese colonialism in Ghana. With support from the foundation, she engaged in insightful conversations with resource persons including Mr Fritz Baffour—a politician, media and communications consultant, and former Minister of State, known for his expertise in Ghanaian culture and norms—and Mr Allotey Bruce-Konuah, a local resident and historical tour guide.

Bona Dyssou furthered her transmedia project The Very Secret Story of XYLMNOPQ, filming a key scene in Accra and exploring themes of diplomacy, betrayal, and friendship through imagined female figures.

Sümer Erek created Tears of Gold, an installation addressing environmental justice and the colonial extraction of natural resources, using local fibres, kente cloth, and living plants.
The residency concluded with a seminar and exhibition, opening up dialogue between the artists, audiences, and cultural practitioners.