🔗 Share this article

After more than 50 installments exploring the international Black diaspora, this represents a last dispatch. The tenure proved profoundly rewarding, and great gratitude directed to all the engaged followers.

A Look Inside Accra Cultural Week

Visiting the showcases, presentations and acts of this event, one sees how superior art feeds and builds a nation's heritage and identity. The focal point was undoubtedly the artist's exquisite a profound exploration of ritual and time, which displayed his innovative afrogallonism for all to see: a concept that converts yellow jerrycans into illusory works of art, assemblages of metallic tones. The exhibition was conceived as a tribute to the strength of Jamestown, a historic neighbourhood of Accra.

The community – largely inhabited by the Ga people, a community of fishermen – is additionally where many returning Africans returned from South America and made their home in the 1830s. Known as the Tabom, they carried with them Brazilian tongue and customs.

All across Jamestown, one observes a blend of architecture. There’s Franklin House, featuring its distinct European-style masonry and arched doorways. One can also see the iconic Jamestown Lighthouse, erected in the 1800s and later given its signature banded facade.

Customs of Remembrance

Equally remarkable about Jamestown is the ever-present presence of memorial notices. Everywhere you turn, whether affixed to walls or on larger billboards, one finds announcements and phrases of loss. In Jamestown, similar to the rest of Ghana, funerals are significant social gatherings.

In Clottey’s spectacular show, every aspect of the sights, sounds and religious textures of Jamestown are captured – particularly in the engaging shoreline work. Here, you’re soothed by the recording of crashing waves with sand on the floor, while beach huts, hanging fishing nets and images of vessels celebrate its spirited, multigenerational fishing community. However being present in this venue, it's hard to ignore the piles of discarded clothing that mar the aesthetics and peace of the region.

Apart from the Centrepiece

There is additional highlights. Within an raw space at the University of Ghana, creator Reginald Sylvester II showcased On the Other Side of Languish, an emotionally powerful, stripped-back exhibition that included three-dimensional works and canvases created in concert with artisans.

And then there is the Yaa Asantewaa Art prize for female Ghanaian artists. It featured the first solo show of a recent recipient, whose work references personal family archives to create a artistic representation of life in Ghana after independence. The event also crowned a new champion, whose diverse work is deeply invested in the craft techniques of women in Dabala.

An Enduring Presence

Although the global African community has grown been pulled home to Ghana in the western winter, more and more are considering travelling earlier in the year to immerse themselves in the area's cultural season. From this festival and regional art fairs, what you’ll find are cultural ecosystems that are not merely emerging or “rising” but have forged an entire landscape that is enduring.

Finally, the journey provides a perception of Accra that serves as a declaration for ecological stewardship and the preservation of culture. It is a compelling homage to adaptability in all its expressions.