Ekow Eshun

Ekow Eshun (born 27 May 1968) is a British writer, journalist, broadcaster, and curator. He is the editor-in-chief of the quarterly magazine Tank,[1] a former editor of Arena magazine,[2] and the former director of the Institute of Contemporary Arts. He is Chair of the Fourth Plinth Commissioning Group, and Creative Director of Calvert 22 Foundation.[3]

Ekow Eshun
Born (1968-05-27) 27 May 1968
London, England
NationalityBritish
EducationKingsbury High School;
London School of Economics
OccupationWriter, journalist, broadcaster, curator
Websiteekoweshun.com

Biography

Ekow Eshun was born in London, the younger brother of writer Kodwo Eshun. His family are Fante from Ghana. His father, whom he calls 'Joe', was a supporter of Kwame Nkrumah, and was working at the Ghanaian High Commission when Nkrumah was overthrown in a military-police coup in February 1966. He continued to support Nkrumah, visited him in Conakry, Guinea, where he was in exile, and in September 1967 took the risk of returning to West Africa, where he was arrested in Benin and returned to Ghana, where he spent two years in prison.[4] Although three years (1971–74) of Eshun's childhood were spent in Accra, for the most part he was brought up in London,[5] after his father returned to London to work again at the Ghana High Commission, a position he lost when the prevailing military regime was overthrown in a coup by Jerry Rawlings. He attended Kingsbury High School in North West London, later reading history and politics at the London School of Economics.[6][7] During his time there he edited both Features and Arts for the student newspaper The Beaver.[8]

He was the director of the Institute of Contemporary Arts in London from 2005 to 2010 during a period of turmoil for the organisation, leaving before the end of his six-month notice period.[9][10]

He has sometimes appeared as a critic on Saturday Review on BBC Radio 4, and formerly on BBC Two's The Review Show.[11] He appeared in 2009 in the television advertisements for Aviva (formerly Norwich Union). He has also often appeared on More4's topical talk show The Last Word.[12] In 2019, he was the captain of the London School of Economics team on Christmas University Challenge.[13]

Eshun's memoir, Black Gold of the Sun: searching for home in England and Africa, published in 2005, deals with a return trip to Ghana, Ghanaian history, and issues of identity and race.[14] Reviewing the book for the New Statesman, Margaret Busby said: "His rich memoir, which comes fittingly adorned with a golden jacket designed by Chris Ofili, attempts to answer the question: 'Where are you from?' Eshun’s search for home and identity is sometimes achingly poignant, a story of semi-detachment, of fragmentation and duality, which must have been cathartic to write. 'There is no singularity to truth' is its refrain."[15] Black Gold of the Sun was nominated for an Orwell Prize in 2006.[3]

References
  1. Jessica Hodgson, "Ex-Arena editor commands Tank magazine", The Guardian. Retrieved 23 February 2010.
  2. Jenny Turner, "The face of British style; interview: Ekow Eshun", The Independent, 2 March 1997.
  3. "About – Ekow Eshun".
  4. This period of his life is documented in June Milne ed., Kwame Nkrumah: the Conakry Years (London, 1990); see the index under "Eshun, Ekow".
  5. Black Gold of the Sun by Ekow Eshun
  6. BBC profile.
  7. Ekow Eshun profile, Evening Standard.
  8. "The Beaver", LSE Digital Library.
  9. Edemariam, Aida (27 August 2010). "Ekow Eshun: 'It's been a tough year …'". The Guardian.
  10. Mark Brown (12 January 2010). "Gregor Muir to be new ICA chief". The Guardian. Retrieved 12 January 2011.
  11. Saturday Review website.
  12. "Television and Radio". Evening Standard. 9 October 2007. Retrieved 1 January 2019.
  13. "Christmas University Challenge alumni line-up announced". BBC. Retrieved 1 January 2019.
  14. Gabriel Gbadamosi (9 July 2005). "Looking for myself". The Guardian. (Review of Black Gold of the Sun.)
  15. Margaret Busby, "Homing instinct", New Statesman, 30 May 2005.
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