🔗 Share this article

In the wake of over 50 installments delving into the global Black diaspora, this signifies a concluding column. The journey proved profoundly rewarding, and great gratitude directed to all the engaged readers.

A Look Inside the Cultural Week

Visiting the showcases, installations and acts of Accra Cultural Week, it becomes clear how exceptional art sustains and shapes a nation's history and character. The centrepiece was certainly Serge Attukwei Clottey’s remarkable a profound exploration of ritual and time, which displayed his groundbreaking afrogallonism for all to see: a concept that converts plastic containers into mesmerizing works of art, tapestries of golden hues. The exhibition was conceived as a homage to the strength of the historic district, a historical quarter of Accra.

This area – predominantly inhabited by the Ga people, a seafaring people – is additionally where many formerly enslaved people came back from South America and made their home in the 1830s. Referred to as the Tabom, they carried with them Portuguese language and culture.

All across Jamestown, one observes a mix of architectural styles. You'll find Franklin House, with its characteristic Portuguese brickwork and curved entrances. One can also see the famous lighthouse of Jamestown, built in the 19th century and eventually given its signature striped facade.

A Culture of Mourning

Equally striking about Jamestown is the pervasive presence of obituary announcements. Everywhere you turn, whether plastered over buildings or on big billboards, there are funeral details and expressions of mourning. In Jamestown, similar to the rest of Ghana, funerals are large-scale community celebrations.

In the artist's breathtaking show, all of the sensory and spiritual landscape of Jamestown are captured – especially in the engaging beach-themed work. Within it, you’re soothed by the sound of ocean surf with beach material at your feet, while beach huts, nets and depictions of boats pay homage to its spirited, generational maritime community. Yet experiencing this gallery, it's hard to ignore the mountains of textile waste that threaten the beauty and peace of the region.

Apart from the Headline Act

There is much more. Housed in an incomplete building at the local university, creator Sylvester presented a deeply moving minimalist collection, an emotionally powerful, stripped-back exhibition that displayed three-dimensional works and paintings created in collaboration with artisans.

Also featured was the competition for female artists for female Ghanaian artists. It featured the inaugural exhibition of a 2024 recipient, whose work utilizes historical documents to craft a depiction of life in post-independence Ghana. The event also honored a new winner, whose multidisciplinary work is deeply concerned with the textile traditions of women in Dabala.

A Permanent Presence

While the diaspora has increasingly been drawn home to Ghana in the winter months, a growing cohort are contemplating travelling for the cultural season to engage with the region’s festival period. From Accra Cultural Week and other major events, what you’ll find are cultural ecosystems that are not simply new or “rising” but have forged an whole world that is enduring.

In the end, the experience provides a perception of Accra that resembles a manifesto for ecological stewardship and the safeguarding of culture. It is a powerful homage to perseverance in all its expressions.