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Following over fifty editions delving into the global Black diaspora, this signifies a last piece. The experience has been incredibly fulfilling, with great thanks offered to every one of the dedicated audience.

Inside the Cultural Week

Experiencing the exhibitions, artworks and acts of the festival, one sees how exceptional art nourishes and builds a nation's heritage and character. The centrepiece was undoubtedly Serge Attukwei Clottey’s remarkable [Dis]Appearing Rituals: An Open Lab of Now for Tomorrow, which showcased his pioneering afrogallonism on full display: a concept that transforms plastic containers into illusory art pieces, tapestries of metallic tones. The exhibition was designed as a tribute to the endurance of Jamestown, a historical neighbourhood of Accra.

Jamestown – largely inhabited by the Ga ethnic group, a fishing community – is also where numerous freed slaves came back from South America and settled in the 19th century. Known as the Tabom community, they introduced Portuguese language and customs.

All across Jamestown, you can see a blend of building designs. Standing is Franklin House, with its distinct Portuguese construction and arched doorways. Another landmark is the iconic Jamestown Lighthouse, constructed in the 1871 and eventually given its signature striped appearance.

A Culture of Remembrance

Equally notable about Jamestown is the pervasive sight of funeral posters. Wherever you look, whether affixed to buildings or on big signboards, you’ll see announcements and terms of farewell. In Jamestown, similar to the rest of Ghana, final rites are large-scale social gatherings.

In Clottey’s impressive show, all of the sensory and spiritual landscape of Jamestown are captured – particularly in the immersive shoreline piece. Here, visitors are calmed by the recording of ocean surf with granules underfoot, while shacks, nets and images of boats celebrate its vibrant, multigenerational fishing community. However experiencing this venue, the mind turns to the heaps of cast-off garments that compromise the charm and peace of the area.

In Addition to the Headline Act

There is additional highlights. Housed in an incomplete building at the local university, creator Sylvester exhibited a deeply moving minimalist collection, an incredibly moving, austere show that featured three-dimensional works and canvases made in collaboration with artisans.

Another key element is the Yaa Asantewaa Art prize for female Ghanaian artists. It showcased the inaugural exhibition of a prior laureate, whose work draws on personal family archives to create a artistic representation of life in Ghana after independence. The event also honored a new champion, whose varied work is deeply invested in the textile traditions of women in Dabala.

An Enduring Legacy

While the global African community has grown been pulled home to west Africa during the western winter, a growing cohort are thinking about visiting earlier in the year to experience the region’s festival period. Between Accra Cultural Week and similar gatherings, what you’ll find are cultural ecosystems that are not simply new or “upcoming” but have established an whole universe that is enduring.

Finally, the experience provides a perception of Accra that resembles a manifesto for environmental protection and the preservation of tradition. It is a resonant homage to perseverance in all its expressions.