ABSTRACT
Compared to other contemporary Ghanaian designers, Beatrice “Bee” Arthur is unique in that she views her garments as works of art, in a constant state of redesign and adaptation. As the focus of Chapter 5, Arthur’s initial partnership with designer Ben Nonterah is documented, followed by her own solo career, emphasizing her unusual, distinctive approach to fashion: treating her garments as a canvas for elaborate, quirky and often hand-painted embellishments. Her Ghanaian-Russian heritage is emphasized, as it directly informs the motifs and imagery of her designs, particularly her fusion of local materials with icons of Russian culture. Following the closure of her boutique, Arthur began to produce garments for purely aesthetic reasons, resulting in two of her most experimental collections: Hands Off – Eyes Only, garments that metaphorically address the sexual predation of women’s bodies; and Dumsor, a colorful and reflective critique of Ghana’s persistent power outages. Arthur’s sartorial fusions attest to the importance of considering fashion as art, while demonstrating how Ghanaian fashion continues to emphasize a nationalist cosmopolitanism.
