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In the wake of in excess of 50 issues delving into the worldwide Black diaspora, this marks a final column. The experience was deeply fulfilling, and sincere thanks directed to all the attentive audience.

Inside Accra Cultural Week

Attending the showcases, artworks and acts of the festival, observers witness how superior art feeds and constructs a country’s past and character. The focal point was without doubt Serge Attukwei Clottey’s remarkable a profound exploration of ritual and time, which displayed his innovative afrogallonism in full view: a philosophy that reimagines yellow jerrycans into mesmerizing creations, assemblages of yellow, brass and gold. The display was designed as a homage to the strength of this area, a historic neighbourhood of Accra.

This area – mainly home to the Ga ethnic group, a fishing community – is furthermore where a great number of returning Africans came back from South America and established themselves in the 1830s. Referred to as the Tabom community, they introduced Portuguese language and traditions.

Throughout Jamestown, one observes a mix of building designs. Standing is Franklin House, boasting its characteristic colonial-era brickwork and arched doorways. Another landmark is the prominent beacon, built in the 19th century and later given its recognizable banded facade.

A Culture of Mourning

Also remarkable about Jamestown is the ever-present sight of memorial notices. Wherever you look, whether affixed to alleyways or on big billboards, one finds service information and terms of farewell. In Jamestown, as throughout Ghana, funerals are major community celebrations.

In the artist's spectacular exhibition, the entirety of the sights, sounds and religious textures of Jamestown are captured – notably in the enveloping beach-themed installation. Here, you’re soothed by the audio of crashing waves with granules underfoot, while beach huts, nets and representations of canoes honour its spirited, multigenerational fishing community. But being present in this exhibition space, the mind turns to the heaps of discarded clothing that mar the aesthetics and tranquillity of the region.

Beyond the Centrepiece

Accra Cultural Week also features a great deal more. Inside an incomplete building at the local university, artist Sylvester presented On the Other Side of Languish, an profoundly affecting, minimalist show that displayed sculptures and artworks created in collaboration with metalworkers.

Also featured was the Yaa Asantewaa Art prize for female Ghanaian artists. It featured the debut presentation of a 2024 recipient, whose work draws on personal family archives to create a depiction of life in post-independence Ghana. The event also announced a latest winner, whose multidisciplinary work is deeply focused on the textile traditions of women in Dabala.

A Lasting Legacy

Although the overseas community has grown been attracted home to west Africa during the colder season, more and more are considering visiting earlier in the year to engage with the region’s festival period. Between this festival and regional art fairs, what is evident are creative communities that are not merely emerging or “rising” but have established an entire landscape that is here to stay.

Finally, the journey provides a vision of Accra that feels like a statement for environmental protection and the preservation of heritage. It is a resonant testament to adaptability in all its forms.