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Thomas Kojo Alicoe Appiah is the Ghanaian Artist who’s known by the tag TETEBOTAN KALI. He’s a traditional painter who flits fluidly from graffiti to fine art to tattooing to body painting and back to watercolors and graphic design without skipping a beat. Accra is his canvas and his works adorn Chale Wote and other spaces in the city. He describes his work as “semi-detailed abstract and freestyle painting with a blend of African and other influences”. Following are excerpts from an interview with Nana S. Achampong on October 20, 2018
NANA S. ACHAMPONG: What kinda name is Tetebotan Kali?
TETEBOTANKALI: I am Thomas Kojo Alicoe Appiah, an Artist known by the name. TETEBOTAN KALI. I do Traditional Painting, Graffiti, Fine Art, Tattooing, Ethnic/Tribal Body Painting, Watercolor Painting and Graphic Design. My style can be described as semi-detailed abstract, freestyle with a blend of African and other Influences.
NSA: Would you characterize yourself as a GREAT artist?
T: My source of inspiration for the persona Tetebotankali was Ancient Rock that can’t never be moved, but there to stay. Yes. I am a great artist.
NSA: How would describe the street art scene in Accra today?
T: Vibrant
NSA: What advice would you give your younger Self?
T: Be yourself
NSA: What things in life are still a mystery to you?
T: Life itself
NSA: What does food mean to you?
T: Cooking is another way of expressing an activity. I enjoy cooking and certainly eating. For me food is to feed the body and soul, so food is very important in my life
NSA: If you were an all-powerful mayor for a day, what ONE change would you make to Accra?
T: I will make sure I use my art life to educate and decorate the whole Accra.
NSA: What inspires your outdoor work?
T: Environment, Culture and Children around.
NSA: What do you think about when you’re alone in your car?
T: I think about how I can bring awareness of graffiti around …if a permit is given, that is
NSA: What in your childhood has prepared you for your vocation?
T: Being raised by a single mother and observing the struggle has pushed me to want to be who I am
NSA: Who was the last person that blew your mind, and why? How?
T: A Psychological old man I met in Togo after a basketball match there. Despite his condition and the hardness of the environment, he survives with his Art
NSA: What do you do to psyche yourself before a gig you are not interested in doing?
T: I meditate and do yoga
NSA: What’s one interesting fact about you that nobody knows?
T: Quick temper
NSA: What’s your definition of success?
T: The Recognition of work, skills and qualities
NSA: Politics or Religion: which is worse, and why?
T: Both the same: misleading and manipulating the people
NSA: Favorite living African leader, and why?
T: Ex-president Jerry John Rawlings: discipline, speaks the truth; achieves with a coup, and opens the way to democracy
NSA: How can we get more Ghanaians ‘feeling’ Ghana?
T: When everyone benefit from the economy, and also when politicians pay taxes as everyone
NSA: How would you describe the idea of ‘God’?
T: The feminine spirit within all beings
NSA: In your many interviews, what’s the one question you wished someone would have asked you, but never did? And how would you respond to that?
T: “Are you happy?” And the answer is “yes”, because I have free air to breathe even though life is thirsty
Facebook: Tetebotan Kali
Instagram: @Tetebotan_Kali
Twitter: @tetebotankali
Tumblr: tetebotankali
Bēhance: Tetebotankali
YouTube: Tetebotan Kali