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After over fifty installments exploring the worldwide Black diaspora, this marks a concluding piece. The experience proved incredibly fulfilling, with sincere appreciation offered to every one of the engaged audience.

Inside the Cultural Week

Attending the exhibitions, installations and shows of this event, one sees how the finest art sustains and builds a nation's history and essence. The highlight was certainly Clottey's exquisite [Dis]Appearing Rituals: An Open Lab of Now for Tomorrow, which showcased his innovative afrogallonism in full view: a approach that reimagines yellow jerrycans into illusory creations, tapestries of metallic tones. The display was created as a homage to the resilience of the historic district, a venerable neighbourhood of Accra.

This area – largely home to the Ga ethnic group, a community of fishermen – is additionally where many freed slaves arrived from South America and made their home in the 1830s. Referred to as the Tabom, they brought Brazilian language and customs.

All across Jamestown, one observes a blend of architecture. There’s a historic building, with its distinct colonial-era construction and curved entrances. Also present is the famous Jamestown Lighthouse, erected in the 19th century and eventually sporting its signature striped appearance.

Customs of Mourning

Also notable about Jamestown is the ubiquitous sight of memorial notices. On every corner, be it plastered over alleyways or on big signboards, you’ll see service information and terms of farewell. In Jamestown, similar to the rest of Ghana, final rites are significant social gatherings.

In the artist's impressive installation, every aspect of the visual and auditory essence of Jamestown are present – especially in the enveloping Jamestown nshonaa piece. Here, you’re soothed by the sound of ocean surf with sand underfoot, while shacks, nets and images of boats pay homage to its dynamic, multigenerational seafaring tradition. Yet being present in this gallery, one cannot help but think of the heaps of textile waste that compromise the aesthetics and serenity of the region.

Beyond the Main Event

There is additional highlights. Inside an incomplete building at the local university, artist Reginald Sylvester II showcased On the Other Side of Languish, an profoundly affecting, austere show that displayed three-dimensional works and artworks produced 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 laureate, whose work draws on personal family archives to craft a visual impression of life in post-independence Ghana. The event also crowned a latest winner, whose multidisciplinary work is intensely concerned with the weaving practices of women in the Volta region.

A Permanent Impact

Although the global African community has increasingly been drawn back to the region in the winter months, a growing cohort are thinking about visiting some months earlier to immerse themselves in the area's festival period. Between this festival and regional art fairs, what emerges are cultural ecosystems that are not simply nascent or “rising” but have established an entire world that is permanent.

Finally, the experience leaves one with a perception of Accra that resembles a declaration for environmental protection and the keeping alive of heritage. It is a compelling tribute to perseverance in all its manifestations.