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Following more than fifty editions navigating the worldwide Black diaspora, this signifies a last piece. The tenure proved deeply rewarding, with immense gratitude offered to every one of the attentive readers.

Exploring Accra Cultural Week

Visiting the exhibitions, presentations and acts of this event, observers witness how exceptional art feeds and shapes a country’s past and identity. The centrepiece was certainly the artist's stunning [Dis]Appearing Rituals: An Open Lab of Now for Tomorrow, which showcased his innovative afrogallonism on full display: a concept that reimagines water vessels into mesmerizing art pieces, mosaics of golden hues. The show was designed as a homage to the strength of this area, a venerable area of Accra.

The community – mainly inhabited by the Ga ethnic group, a seafaring people – is furthermore where many freed slaves came back from Brazil and settled in the 1830s. Referred to as the Tabom people, they brought Brazilian language and customs.

Throughout Jamestown, one observes a fusion of architectural styles. There’s Franklin House, with its unique Portuguese masonry and curved entrances. Another landmark is the iconic beacon, constructed in the 1871 and eventually featuring its recognizable striped appearance.

A Culture of Mourning

Furthermore notable about Jamestown is the pervasive sight of funeral posters. Everywhere you turn, be it plastered over alleyways or on larger signboards, there are funeral details and expressions of mourning. In Jamestown, mirroring customs in Ghana, funerals are major social gatherings.

In this impressive show, the entirety of the sights, sounds and religious textures of Jamestown are present – especially in the enveloping beach-themed work. Here, visitors are calmed by the recording of the sea with granules on the floor, while shacks, draped nets and depictions of boats celebrate its spirited, multigenerational seafaring tradition. However being present in this gallery, one cannot help but think of the piles of cast-off garments that threaten the charm and serenity of the area.

Apart from the Centrepiece

The festival program included much more. Inside an raw space at the local university, creator Reginald Sylvester II exhibited On the Other Side of Languish, an incredibly moving, stripped-back exhibition that featured three-dimensional works and artworks made in concert with welders.

Also featured was the competition for female artists for Ghanaian women creators. It showcased the first solo show of a recent winner, whose work references historical documents to produce a artistic representation of life in the nation's recent history. The event also honored a new champion, whose varied work is particularly focused on the craft techniques of women in the Volta region.

A Permanent Impact

Although the diaspora has increasingly been pulled back to the region in the western winter, an increasing number are thinking about travelling for the cultural season to experience the area's cultural season. Between Accra Cultural Week and other major events, what emerges are creative communities that are not merely nascent or “rising” but have established an entire world that is permanent.

Ultimately, the experience leaves one with a image of Accra that resembles a manifesto for conservation and the safeguarding of culture. It is a resonant tribute to perseverance in all its manifestations.