Efua Sutherland | Willis Bell
Efua Sutherland
In 2024 Efua Sutherland's centenary is being celebrated internationally. Born and raised in Ghana, she returned from her higher education studies at Cambridge University in England determined to help create new African institutions in the Arts after independence. Her book Playtime in Africa, co-authored with Willis Bell, is the source and inspiration for “Playtime:Then and Now” in Riverfront Park Spokane, an exhibition which joins other events in places like Ghana, Senegal and Uganda, in recalling her cultural impact as a writer, director, institution builder, and child advocate. The Efua Sutherland Children’s Park in Accra, EfuaSutherlandstraat in Amsterdam and a 2018 google doodle are examples of the worldwide recognition of a remarkable African woman. Part of her legacy is Mmofra Place, a child-centered cultural landscape in Accra, Ghana which Friends of Mmofra helps to steward with support from our local community.
Willis Bell
Born in Burma to American missionary parents, Willis Bell was educated at Woodstock School in India where he first discovered an interest in photography. As a young man, Willis Bell served in the Merchant Navy and went on to earn a college degree. After extensive travel and work worldwide, Bell ultimately relocated to Africa in the 1950's where he excelled as a professional photographer. With the keen eye of a world traveler, Willis Bell captured images that are considered historically and culturally significant for diverse audiences. Publications of his collaborative work with Efua Sutherland include Playtime in Africa (1960) and The Roadmakers (1962). Bell's full collection is currently being preserved and cataloged with funding from two grants by: the Modern Endangered Archives Program at UCLA, and a 2023 NEH grant to Michigan State University's MATRIX: Center for Digital Humanities and Social Science. When complete, the collection is expected to "make significant contributions to the cultural studies of Western Africa, including its connection to the US...and to global histories of photography in the 20th century" (Dr. Candace Keller, Art Historian).