A Tribute to Strength: What We Can Learn from the Splendour of Accra Cultural Week.
In the wake of more than 50 installments exploring the global Black diaspora, this marks a last piece. The journey has been profoundly rewarding, and immense gratitude directed to all the dedicated followers.
Inside Accra Cultural Week
Experiencing the displays, presentations and acts of Accra Cultural Week, one sees how exceptional art feeds and builds a country’s heritage and essence. The highlight was undoubtedly Serge Attukwei Clottey’s remarkable a profound exploration of ritual and time, which showcased his innovative afrogallonism on full display: a philosophy that reimagines yellow jerrycans into illusory art pieces, mosaics of golden hues. The display was designed as a homage to the resilience of the historic district, a historic neighbourhood of Accra.
Jamestown – mainly home to the Ga community, a community of fishermen – is furthermore where numerous formerly enslaved people arrived from South America and made their home in the 1830s. Called the Tabom, they brought Portuguese tongue and customs.
Throughout Jamestown, one observes a mix of architecture. There’s Franklin House, boasting its unique colonial-era brickwork and arched doorways. Also present is the prominent Jamestown Lighthouse, constructed in the 19th century and subsequently featuring its recognizable striped exterior.
Customs of Remembrance
Equally notable about Jamestown is the ever-present presence of funeral posters. Everywhere you turn, whether affixed to alleyways or on sizable hoardings, one finds announcements and expressions of farewell. In Jamestown, as throughout Ghana, funerals are significant community celebrations.
In this spectacular show, all of the sights, sounds and religious textures of Jamestown are evoked – especially in the engaging beach-themed installation. Within it, one is relaxed by the audio of the sea with sand at your feet, while shacks, nets and representations of canoes honour its vibrant, generational seafaring tradition. Yet standing in this venue, the mind turns to the piles of textile waste that mar the charm and tranquillity of the area.
Beyond the Main Event
The festival program included a great deal more. Inside an incomplete building at the campus, creator Reginald Sylvester II exhibited On the Other Side of Languish, an incredibly moving, stripped-back exhibition that featured sculptures and paintings made in partnership with welders.
And then there is the competition for female artists for female Ghanaian artists. It included the first solo show of a recent winner, whose work references personal family archives to create a depiction of life in the nation's recent history. The event also honored a current champion, whose multidisciplinary work is intensely concerned with the textile traditions of women in a specific region.
A Permanent Impact
While the overseas community has more and more been pulled back to west Africa in the western winter, an increasing number are contemplating travelling for the cultural season to immerse themselves in the region’s artistic calendar. From Accra Cultural Week and similar gatherings, what emerges are cultural ecosystems that are not merely new or “rising” but have built up an whole world that is here to stay.
Ultimately, the experience provides a perception of Accra that feels like a statement for environmental protection and the preservation of culture. It is a resonant testament to resilience in all its expressions.