🔗 Share this article

Following in excess of 50 installments navigating the international Black diaspora, this represents a final dispatch. The journey proved incredibly gratifying, and sincere appreciation offered to all the engaged readers.

A Look Inside the Accra Festival

Experiencing the exhibitions, artworks and acts of this event, observers witness how the finest art feeds and shapes a nation's past and essence. The centrepiece was without doubt Serge Attukwei Clottey’s exquisite [Dis]Appearing Rituals: An Open Lab of Now for Tomorrow, which displayed his pioneering afrogallonism on full display: a approach that converts water vessels into captivating art pieces, tapestries of yellow, brass and gold. The display was designed as a tribute to the strength of the historic district, a historic neighbourhood of Accra.

This area – largely home to the Ga community, a community of fishermen – is also where many formerly enslaved people arrived from Brazil and made their home in the 1830s. Known as the Tabom, they introduced Brazilian tongue and culture.

Throughout Jamestown, you can see a mix of architecture. You'll find Fort Vicentia, boasting its distinct Portuguese brickwork and door arches. Another landmark is the prominent beacon, constructed in the 1871 and later featuring its distinctive red-and-white-striped appearance.

Customs of Mourning

Equally striking about Jamestown is the ubiquitous sight of obituary announcements. Wherever you look, be it covering walls or on sizable signboards, one finds funeral details and phrases of mourning. In Jamestown, mirroring customs in Ghana, funerals are large-scale social gatherings.

In the artist's spectacular installation, the entirety of the sensory and spiritual landscape of Jamestown are present – particularly in the engaging Jamestown nshonaa work. In this space, one is relaxed by the audio of the sea with beach material on the floor, while beach huts, nets and images of boats celebrate its dynamic, generational fishing community. However being present in this exhibition space, one cannot help but think of the piles of cast-off garments that threaten the aesthetics and peace of the region.

In Addition to the Centrepiece

There is additional highlights. Housed in an unfinished structure at the local university, creator Reginald Sylvester II presented a deeply moving minimalist collection, an emotionally powerful, austere exhibition that featured sculptures and paintings created in collaboration with metalworkers.

Also featured was the Yaa Asantewaa Art prize for female Ghanaian artists. It showcased the inaugural exhibition of a recent winner, whose work references familial archival records to craft a artistic representation of life in Ghana after independence. The event also announced a new champion, whose diverse work is deeply concerned with the craft techniques of women in Dabala.

An Enduring Impact

While the overseas community has increasingly been attracted back to west Africa during the western winter, more and more are considering journeying earlier in the year to experience the region’s festival period. From Accra Cultural Week and other major events, what you’ll find are cultural ecosystems that are not merely nascent or “rising” but have forged an complete landscape that is permanent.

Ultimately, the visit leaves one with a vision of Accra that feels like a manifesto for conservation and the preservation of heritage. It is a powerful testament to resilience in all its expressions.