The University of Oxford's Exeter College has remembered the late former president John Agyekum Kufuor by exhibiting two pieces of art in his likeness.
The two commissioned pieces of art—an oil painting and a picture of a person—will adorn Cohen Quad, a structure from the 18th century, and the college's Medieval 1600s dining hall.
Last Tuesday, the historian and rector of the college, Sir Rick Trainor, opened and displayed the artworks by the British photographer Fran Monks and the Tunisian-Belgian oil painter Naima Aouni.
Numerous VIPs, including the Asantehene Otumfuo Osei Tutu II and his wife Lady Julia, Lord Boateng of the Royal Family, and other dignitaries, attended the occasion.
the Ghanaian High Commissioner to the UK, Papa Owusu-Ankomah, the African Ambassadors in Europe, the British House of Lords, and members of President Kufuor's family.
Sir Trainor stated that Mr. Kufuor was one of the university's most well-known alumni, and the nearly 700-year-old college was proud of him.
He said that by having his photographs up, the former president had joined the founders and other notable people.
After receiving an honorary fellowship from Rector Frances Cairncross, the Rector stated that Mr. Kufuor has become a unique man to have achieved such accolades.
He also expressed admiration for the hired planning team that had been working on the event for the last two years.
Yvonne Rainy, the college's director of development and alumni relations, historians, and Mr. Kufuor's Ivor Agyeman-Duah, a biographer, and Amelia Crosse, a representative for alumni relations and events
Humility
Later, at a luncheon organized by Fidelity Bank, the Asantehene said that Mr. Kufuor had humbled himself to serve as President of Ghana and that this had directly contributed to Ghanaians' pride in him as well as their acknowledgment of him at school, at the university, and elsewhere.
He said, "He never changed before taking office, never changed while in office, and never changed after leaving office.
Gratitude
After leaving Oxford, where he met his wife, the former president Kufuor said he never anticipated such an honor. He lamented that she couldn't attend due to her poor health.
Positional value
The importance of "art in the university's ancient traditions dates back to its founding," according to Mr. Agyeman-Duah, whose book, "Art and the Power of Goodness: A Collection of John Agyekum Kufuor," with a foreword by former UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown, was later autographed by former President Kufuor for the Asantehene and other VIPs of the day.
According to him, the college placed significance on Mr. Kufuor by purchasing paintings of him to hang in its nearly hallowed dining hall among the pantheon of intellectual gods from 700 years ago.
"That portrait will resonate among the millions who will see it for centuries to come," he continued.
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