Ebenezer Djaba Nomoda

Ghana

Year(s) attended: 2009, 2010, 2011

Recycled Glass Beads

Nicknamed by his grandmother after the Ghanaian currency, Cedi has been making beads from recycled glass since he was seven years old when he would sneak away from dinner to fill glass molds. Glass beads play an important role in Cedi’s eastern Ghanaian Krobo culture where they illustrate wealth and status. Young girls wear strings of colorful beads during the traditional dipo coming-of-age ceremony.

No longer needing to sneak away, Cedi makes beads in his workshop. He uses a mortar and pestle to crush bottles and then fills molds with the glass. The glass is fired in clay kilns at temperatures ranging from 1500-1800˚F in order to shape the glass into beads. The cooled beads are smoothed and strung. Cedi travels internationally to conferences and has received numerous awards for his work.