Inside J.C. Abbey’s world of puppets
Mr Joseph Commey Abbey, known to many simply as Ataa Abbey, knows how to pull strings but not in the sense of using influence with someone to get something done.
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The man who hails from Bukom in Accra and turns 71 on February 11 is a puppeteer who has been pulling strings for his puppets to talk, play musical instruments, dance, sing and perform numerous other functions since 1963.
Ataa Abbey is an extremely creative personality with a multiplicity of skills such as carpentry, carving, drawing sewing and painting.
He has a curious mind that makes him want to probe and understand the workings behind almost all mechanical items.
It is that sort of inquisitive nature that pushed him way back in 1963 to dismember a string puppet in order to clearly discern what went into its making. Since then, it has been an exceptional artistic career that has seen his puppets travel all over this country, get shown on national television and appreciated in some circles abroad
He has lost count of the number of puppets he has created over the years but some of the key ones had been based on Heads of State and other public figures.“I’m a keen observer of people and their peculiarities and that trait comes in handy all the time. I always come up with concept stories that can be told with the puppets and I go ahead to everything possible to make the performances catch attention.”
Civic education
His puppets were extensively used for civic education across the country sometime back and he fondly remembers a collaboration between Friedrich Ebert Foundation of Germany, the Ministry of Education and the then Arts Council of Ghana where he worked.
“We had a van equipped with a generator, a projector and screen and we went all over the country on three occasions with my puppets to educate the populace on important national and civic issues,” Ataa Abbey said.
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He himself loves music deeply and enjoys seeing his puppets entertain people. He has therefore created puppets based on musicians like Ghanaba, Teddy Osei, Bob Marley, Naa Amanua, Sol Amarfio, Amoa Azangio, Fela Anikulapo Kuti, Terry Bonchaka, Kojo Antwi, American jazzmen — John Coltrane and Elvin Jones — and many more.
What children love most about Ataa Abbey’s creations are the animal puppets and the man does not mount his regular community shows for children without bringing on his monkeys, dancing ants and musical ducks.
How it started
Ataa Abbey’s fascination with puppets began when he first saw a puppet show at the age of 12 at the Young Pioneer Centre in Accra.
He was a member of a cultural troupe called Samaritans which performed regularly at the Arts Centre where the bosses had noticed him as a creative fellow because he always carved something whenever he had time on his hands.
When the chance came for an assistant puppeteer to be employed at the Arts Council, the late great artist and composer, Saka Acquaye, then with the Council, put Ataa Abbey to a short test and was happy with what the then 14-year-old came up with.
“I don’t like being idle so I dismembered a puppet and carefully studied all the elements that went into making it. From then on, I devised ways of making my own and I work till this day.”
Ataa Abbey, in 1977, won a scholarship to Czechoslovakia where he was attached to the Jan Malik Puppet Studio in Praque for a month. He has also shown his work in Burkina Faso.
Technique, knowledge and skill
American ethnomusicologist, anthropologist and linguist, Prof Steven Feld, has in collaboration with the Anyaa Arts Kollectif of Accra, produced a 55-minute film on Ataa Abbey and says the Ghanaian puppeteer possesses technique, knowledge and skill that make him a real master at the game.
“In Europe, the people who work with puppets on strings never use more than nine strings but Ataa Abbey can use 12 strings. His black ant, for instance, dances with four legs and he can make the four legs dance independently,” said Prof Feld.
“The film on him has been shown in England, United States, Portugal and Italy. There are experts there but they see Ataa Abbey’s work and recognise he is a genius because of the way he makes the puppets sing, play instruments and dance.
“In Europe and America, the mouths of the string puppets do not move or speak and their eyes don’t move but Ataa Abbey overcame such limitations long ago.”
Hospital visits
The experienced puppeteer, who is married with six children and lives at Kaneshie in Accra, has a passion for exploring his art as therapy for children.
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He, together with some other members of the Anyaa Arts Kollektif, regularly visit the children’s wing of the Accra Psychiatric Hospital to interact with the inmates.
“They are visits I always look forward to because the children really love to see the puppets perform. They touch and hold them as if they are old–time friends and everyone around is always in a cheerful mood whenever we visit.”
According to Prof Feld, since the film on Ataa Abbey titled ‘J C Abbey: Ghana’s Puppeteer’ was shown in the US, there have been enquiries about the possibility of him being commissioned to make some puppets for a puppet museum in the US.
“The film will definitely bring attention to Ataa Abbey in different ways, both internationally and locally, and he will hopefully get the financial compensation that he deserves for a wonderful artiste of his stature,” said Prof Feld.
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Free screening
The 55-minute film on Ataa Abbey will be shown for free to the public for the first time in Ghana tonight, January 29 at 6.00pm at the Afia Beach Hotel, near the MUSIGA headquarters in Accra.
There are also plans to show it to schools and other communities across the country for free.