A fishing boat is not usually what you expect to see in a hotel lobby; maybe a miniature relic that serves as part of the interior decoration, not a real-size boat placed right in the middle of the lobby like guests at the Ritz-Carlton South Beach, Miami, were greeted with this past weekend in celebration of the 2021 Art Basel Miami show.

The boat is the main attraction for the exhibition of artworks of Ghanaian artist Serge Attukwei Clottey. The exhibition, titled ‘The Bodies Left Behind', is a thought-provoking ensemble that explores issues of migration and its impact on communities and the environment. With this exhibition Clottey really wanted to show how industrial brands affect Africa on a larger scale, observed from an African perspective.

“When westerners visit Africa, they are the ones that loot and pollute the ocean, leaving things like Nike shoes, rubber, trash in the ocean, which doesn’t help our environment. It’s meaningful to me because I realized I can use this moment and exhibition to show people in this luxurious space how they affect our country, using it as a conversation starter so they become aware that we are aware. With awareness, we can start to create change,” he said. 

Best known for repurposing plastic Kufuor gallons in his artwork as a means of exploring issues like global warming, water scarcity, and other environmental issues, Clottey’s newest installation in partnership with Ritz-Carlton hotel, is a month-long exhibition that further dives into the issue of global warming and water scarcity.

The exhibition is a product of intensive collaboration and an intricate setup that spans the whole hotel. The boat which is at the core of the exhibition was brought in from Brazil. According to the artist, it represents the global voyage of people from all over the world who travel to different parts of the continent and their effects on the coastline and water. Similarly, the rubber shoes and rubbish that’s on the boat are representative of the rubbish that’s collected in migration, from place to place, by foreigners.

“I brought my team from Ghana to support in the installation throughout the hotel. It was about 3 weeks of preparation and installation, and the work will remain here till the end of the month. It was challenging shipping the pieces in but it was even more challenging putting the pieces together by hand because we are working with raw materials like rubber, metal, and wood. But I think we delivered a strong message and gave travelers something to think about, which I’m grateful for,” Clottey told OkayAfrica.

On the impact of his grand exhibition at Art Basel Miami on aspiring artists from Africa, Clottey acknowledged that the exhibition means a great deal to him because he considers it a symbolic opportunity to inspire the kids in Ghana to take their work outside the country, “to have conversations about us to a larger community.”

“I also want kids to have a dialogue on how people are affected by the pressure of western society. It’s a small step in the right direction,” he said.