A Homage to Resilience: What We Can Learn from the Brilliance of Accra Cultural Week.

Following in excess of fifty editions delving into the international Black diaspora, this signifies a final dispatch. The journey has been profoundly fulfilling, and immense thanks extended to every one of the dedicated audience.

Exploring the Accra Festival

Visiting the displays, presentations and performances of Accra Cultural Week, observers witness how the finest art feeds and shapes a country’s history and character. The centrepiece was certainly Serge Attukwei Clottey’s remarkable [Dis]Appearing Rituals: An Open Lab of Now for Tomorrow, which put his innovative afrogallonism for all to see: a concept that transforms water vessels into mesmerizing works of art, mosaics of metallic tones. The exhibition was conceived as a homage to the endurance of Jamestown, a historic quarter of Accra.

This area – largely inhabited by the Ga community, a seafaring people – is furthermore where many returning Africans arrived from South America and made their home in the 1830s. Called the Tabom, they carried with them Portuguese tongue and traditions.

All across Jamestown, you can see a blend of architecture. Standing is a historic building, boasting its characteristic European-style brickwork and curved entrances. Another landmark is the prominent lighthouse of Jamestown, built in the 19th century and subsequently featuring its recognizable banded facade.

Customs of Mourning

Furthermore striking about Jamestown is the pervasive sight of obituary announcements. On every corner, be it plastered over walls or on sizable signboards, you’ll see announcements and expressions of loss. In Jamestown, as throughout Ghana, memorial services are major social gatherings.

In this spectacular show, every aspect of the sights, sounds and religious textures of Jamestown are evoked – particularly in the engaging Jamestown nshonaa installation. Here, you’re soothed by the sound of the sea with granules on the floor, while shelters, draped nets and representations of canoes pay homage to its vibrant, generational maritime community. Yet standing in this gallery, the mind turns to the piles of discarded clothing that threaten the aesthetics and tranquillity of the area.

Beyond the Headline Act

The festival program included much more. Housed in an unfinished structure at the campus, creator Reginald Sylvester II presented a deeply moving minimalist collection, an profoundly affecting, austere exhibition that included three-dimensional works and paintings created in collaboration with metalworkers.

Another key element is the competition for female artists for women artists of Ghanaian origin. It showcased the first solo show of a recent recipient, whose work utilizes personal family archives to craft a visual impression of life in post-independence Ghana. The event also honored a current champion, whose varied work is deeply concerned with the craft techniques of women in the Volta region.

A Lasting Legacy

Although the global African community has increasingly been pulled home to the region during the colder season, an increasing number are contemplating visiting for the cultural season to experience the region’s festival period. From Accra Cultural Week and other major events, what you’ll find are creative communities that are not merely nascent or “upcoming” but have established an whole universe that is here to stay.

Finally, the experience leaves one with a perception of Accra that feels like a manifesto for environmental protection and the safeguarding of heritage. It is a compelling homage to adaptability in all its manifestations.