It was a natural and organic progression. While I worked in media, I was interviewing, filming and covering African artists. I used the videos and content that were ultimately not used for the media house for a blog that I had launched, The Afropolitan Collector. The blog grew increasingly popular and I found that people kept asking me about the art industry: where to go, which works or artists to buy or support, in which artists to invest, which works or artists to sell and under which conditions, etc., so I eventually turned The Afropolitan Collector into an art advisory/consultancy.

I have a strong connection to home as even though I was schooled in the UK, I always came back for the holidays and spent a lot of time with my family and friends. I honestly didn’t know that I was going to live in Ghana, but I always knew that I would return to Africa. I perhaps thought of Nigeria in my earlier days (as my other part is Nigerian), but ultimately Ghana just made more sense. The country was developing so quickly; it is gorgeous, safe, by the sea, and I felt that I would be of more use there than anywhere else – both personally and professionally.

I didn’t decide, it just happened! Chance, luck, opportunity, the right place, the right people, the right time – all of these factors contributed to it. I honestly feel that a higher power did this. I was just doing what I loved every day and then, boom, it all fell into place.

Lagos has a thriving art industry. There are galleries, museums, art foundations, auction houses, art funds and a major art fair. Lagos understands art. Ghana as a country doesn’t – not yet anyway. I wanted to be in Ghana to help grow and evolve the art industry there: there are a lot of incredibly talented artists, but not enough infrastructures to support them. Additionally, from a business perspective, there is less competition when it comes to opening a commercial art space.

It was symbolic because he was the first artist to whom I spoke and who I signed up for ADA, and it was his first solo exhibition. It felt right for us to debut together.

The exhibition seeks to communicate the very essence of the quote from James Baldwin: “We can survive, whatever we must survive.” I think that, considering the situation around the world right now, it conveys the strength of the Black voice. I hope that our visitors not only feel empowered but also feel very proud and inspired.

It honestly comes from a gut feeling that is hard to describe. The artists just have it. It goes beyond technique or composition, it is about their point of view and their story – their artistic voice perhaps. I look for depth. I couldn’t work with an artist whose depth or story I cannot perceive.

It depends on the artist. Some want me to be involved and to collaborate at all stages, others need to work alone, and then we work together at the later stages. When it comes to showing in ADA, I do have more of a say, but I deeply believe in collaborating and trusting each other to show and represent the very best as a team.

Everyone is gagging for us now! It is quite funny as I feel like I have been saying the same thing for years, yet no one listened – and now everyone finally understands! Nevertheless, I am a little suspicious and cautious, too. I am quietly watching, although thrilled of the spotlight that this has put on us. It has brought out more room for growth and shown that we are also contenders in the international art market.

I have always worked closely with artists. That was my thing: I travelled to all sorts of places for a studio visit and foster deep relationships and friendships with many artists – both emerging and established. To be honest, I worked more with private clients, curators and galleries than with corporate clients. So ultimately, the only change for me is now having a space to show the work. Everything else is as it has always been.

Nothing beats the physical space because, to me, art is more than what hangs on the wall – it is an experience. However, I do think that one can achieve both the digital and physical, and complement the physical experience by bringing it online. That is what we plan to do. Not just have a simple virtual exhibition but to have a digital sketchbook filled with videos, photos, reference images, poetry, songs, music – anything that the artist wishes to share in conjunction with the show, on our website, so that no matter where one is, they can feel and experience the show too.

For one month, the residents are invited to invest the gallery’s studio space in Accra while experiencing the rich local cultural scene, both traditional and contemporary. Cultivating a two-sided dialogue between the local and the international, whereby both artists and communities learn and grow from one another, I see the residency as a manifest to my – and ADA’s – engagement in strengthening these ties and to ultimately establishing Ghana’s striving, yet to be discovered, artistic scene and market internationally.