V L. K. Djokoto’s ‘Revolution’: A sumptuous chronicle of Anlo heritage and national memory

By Nene A. OSOM

There are books, and then there are monuments. Revolution, the debut publication from V. L. K. Djokoto, belongs decidedly to the latter category. Published by the venerable D. K. T. Djokoto & Co — a firm whose 75-year pedigree speaks for itself, this handsome hardcover volume arrives as both cultural intervention and family testament, a work years in the making that draws from archives both institutional and intimate.

Mr. Djokoto, a 30-year-old cultural theorist and gallerist of considerable ambition and no small degree of intellectual daring, has assembled something rather extraordinary: eight meticulously euphoric chapters and a comic section that weave together the grand sweep of Anlo history with the granular detail of lived experience. The narrative architecture is ambitious, almost audaciously so.

Pre- and post-independence Ghana unfolds through the eyes of his grandfather — a first-hand witness to the nation’s birth pangs and growing pains — while a bold renaissance plan for the Anlo people offers a roadmap for cultural renewal grounded in both tradition and innovation.

It is the work of a young man unafraid to propose grand solutions to complex problems, delivered with the confidence of someone who has studied both the failures and possibilities of transformation.

One chapter preserves a lengthy conversation with the late Jerry John Rawlings, Ghana’s revolutionary leader and two-time president — a coup, if you will, of oral history captured before his death in 2020. It is the sort of encounter that requires both preparation and nerve; Mr. Djokoto, one imagines, possessed both.

Another chronicles his own baptism by fire as a spinster for the National Democratic Congress, offering an insider’s view of the machinery, idealism and occasional chaos of contemporary Ghanaian politics. Here is a young intellectual willing to roll up his sleeves and engage in the often unglamorous work of political mobilisation—a rare quality in an age of armchair theorists.

The personal becomes political and vice versa. A chapter devoted entirely to poetry provides lyrical counterpoint to the prose, while the final chapter presents a distinct cultural theory — Mr. Djokoto’s own intellectual framework for understanding African identity in the 21st century, articulated with the clarity and conviction of someone who believes ideas matter, and that they can reshape societies. Personal stories, some tender, some unflinching, thread throughout.

The production values are impeccable, befitting a volume of this ambition. Kwaku Opoku’s cover design — bold, contemporary, unmistakably Ghanaian — strikes exactly the right note. Printed to exacting standards on heavyweight paper, Revolution showcases work from some of Ghana’s most accomplished visual artists.

The comic section, illustrated by Kumasi-based artist Feoisugly with sophisticated text design by Nana Agyekum Oppong, demonstrates the vitality and maturity of Ghana’s contemporary graphic arts scene. Leslie Bruce contributes additional visual work that bridges the archival and the immediate.

The photography deserves particular mention. Images drawn from the D. K. T. Djokoto & Co Archives — itself a repository of national significance spanning seven decades of Ghanaian life — sit alongside striking contemporary work from Natalie Narh, whose eye for portraiture is unmatched; Pele Voncujovi, who captures the texture of daily life; Zulfiquer Gbedemah, whose documentary work has garnered international attention; Nana Gyasi Boateng, known for architectural photography; and Owuraku Jedidiah, whose experimental approach pushes boundaries. The result is a visual conversation across generations.

Mr. Djokoto leads D. K. T. Djokoto & Co, the distinguished multi-family office established in 1950 by his grandfather. His stated aim — to mobilise Ghanaians through “expertly curated artistic experiences” that weave together African music, literature and art — might sound like corporate speak, but the execution is anything but that. There is a technocratic precision to his approach, a belief that culture can be systematically elevated through the right combination of capital, vision and institutional support.

Revolution represents a synthesis of the firm’s historical role as cultural custodian with a forward-looking vision that refuses to treat tradition as museum piece. It is reform-minded without being revolutionary, ambitious without being reckless — the work of someone who understands that meaningful change requires both resources and legitimacy.

At US$150 per copy, this is not a casual purchase. It is, rather, an investment in cultural memory — the sort of volume one acquires for permanence, not the bedside table. The weight in one’s hands suggests substance; the content delivers on that promise. First editions of this calibre, particularly from emerging markets reshaping their own narratives, tend not to languish. Those who collect African literature and art will understand the significance.

Revolution represents more than a book launch. It signals a generational shift in how African stories are told, by whom and for what purpose. Mr. Djokoto, educated in both Western institutions and the oral traditions of his people, occupies a unique position — insider and analyst, participant and observer, heir and innovator.

He is that increasingly rare figure: the public intellectual who is also a man of action, comfortable in both the archive and the campaign office, fluent in the languages of finance, culture and politics.

Whether his cultural theory finds purchase beyond these pages remains to be seen. But as a document of this moment in Ghana’s evolution, as an act of both familial devotion and national ambition and as a beautiful object in its own right, Revolution succeeds magnificently. One senses this is merely the opening salvo in what promises to be a consequential career. Revolution is available now from D. K. T. Djokoto & Co.

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