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Paper short abstract:

This paper presents the case of a Ghanian artist and activist, Va-Bene Elikem Fiatsi (crazinisT artisT), who uses performance art as a thought-provoking tool to confront discrimination against queer people and imagine queer futures in Ghana, where LGBT rights are threatened by a recent bill.

Paper long abstract:

This paper presents the case of an artist and activist who fights for LGBT rights in Ghana. Va-Bene Elikem Fiatsi (crazinisT artisT) uses performance art to confront discrimination against queer people, as a local and global issue. Homosexuality is already a crime in Ghana, but since 2021 there is a lively political debate around a bill that could make the situation much worse. The “Promotion of proper human sexual rights and Ghanaian family values” bill is going to criminalise anyone who is not fitting heteronormative standards. The Bill proposes strengthening prison sentences up to five years for same-sex relationship and ten years for activities of advocacy and support for LGBT rights. The combined influence of policy makers, journalists, and ultra-conservative Christian movement is creating an hostile environment for LGBT people that have less space to express their identities. Since activism is becoming a dangerous activity, queer activists are developing creative methods and strategies to communicate their messages. They aim to reframe the current narrative on LGBT people, deconstruct stereotypes and misconceptions, and build social agency for queer people, also using art as a thought-provoking tool. Adopting an interdisciplinary approach between anthropology and art, the paper investigates how art can play an active role for social justice and help to imagine queer futures in a country where LGBT rights are not recognized. In particular, it focuses on performance art, a practice not common in Africa, but effective in staging in public space politically and socially relevant topics.