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Following over 50 editions exploring the global Black diaspora, this marks a concluding column. The experience was incredibly rewarding, and great gratitude directed to all the engaged readers.

A Look Inside Accra Cultural Week

Attending the displays, installations and acts of Accra Cultural Week, it becomes clear how superior art sustains and constructs a nation's history and identity. The focal point was without doubt Serge Attukwei Clottey’s exquisite [Dis]Appearing Rituals: An Open Lab of Now for Tomorrow, which displayed his groundbreaking afrogallonism on full display: a concept that reimagines plastic containers into mesmerizing creations, tapestries of golden hues. The display was created as a homage to the resilience of this area, a venerable quarter of Accra.

This area – mainly populated by the Ga people, a community of fishermen – is also where a great number of formerly enslaved people came back from Brazil and settled in the 1830s. Called the Tabom people, they brought Portuguese tongue and culture.

All across Jamestown, you can see a mix of architecture. There’s Franklin House, featuring its characteristic European-style construction and arched doorways. Another landmark is the prominent beacon, constructed in the 1871 and later given its distinctive striped exterior.

A Culture of Mourning

Also notable about Jamestown is the ever-present presence of obituary announcements. Everywhere you turn, be it covering buildings or on sizable billboards, you’ll see announcements and expressions of farewell. In Jamestown, mirroring customs in Ghana, memorial services are significant social gatherings.

In Clottey’s spectacular show, all of the sensory and spiritual landscape of Jamestown are present – especially in the enveloping Jamestown nshonaa work. In this space, visitors are calmed by the audio of the sea with sand at your feet, while shacks, nets and representations of vessels celebrate its dynamic, generational maritime community. However experiencing this exhibition space, one cannot help but think of the piles of cast-off garments that threaten the aesthetics and serenity of the shoreline.

Beyond the Headline Act

Accra Cultural Week also features a great deal more. Inside an unfinished structure at the University of Ghana, artist Sylvester exhibited On the Other Side of Languish, an profoundly affecting, minimalist show that featured sculptures and canvases produced in concert with metalworkers.

Also featured was the competition for female artists for Ghanaian women creators. It showcased the first solo show of a recent winner, whose work utilizes personal family archives to produce a visual impression of life in post-independence Ghana. The event also crowned a new champion, whose multidisciplinary work is deeply focused on the weaving practices of women in a specific region.

A Lasting Impact

While the global African community has grown been attracted home to the region in the western winter, an increasing number are considering travelling for the cultural season to engage with the area's festival period. Between Accra Cultural Week and other major events, what you’ll find are cultural ecosystems that are not simply nascent or “upcoming” but have built up an whole landscape that is permanent.

Finally, the experience provides a image of Accra that feels like a statement for ecological stewardship and the preservation of heritage. It is a resonant testament to adaptability in all its expressions.