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Following in excess of fifty editions exploring the international Black diaspora, this signifies a concluding column. The experience was profoundly rewarding, and immense thanks extended to all the engaged readers.

A Look Inside the Cultural Week

Experiencing the displays, presentations and shows of the festival, observers witness how exceptional art feeds and constructs a nation's heritage and essence. The centrepiece was without doubt Clottey's stunning [Dis]Appearing Rituals: An Open Lab of Now for Tomorrow, which put his innovative afrogallonism in full view: a philosophy that reimagines plastic containers into illusory art pieces, mosaics of golden hues. The display was conceived as a homage to the strength of the historic district, a venerable neighbourhood of Accra.

Jamestown – predominantly populated by the Ga people, a seafaring people – is furthermore where many formerly enslaved people came back from Brazil and established themselves in the 1830s. Referred to as the Tabom community, they brought Portuguese language and customs.

Throughout Jamestown, visitors encounter a blend of building designs. Standing is Fort Vicentia, boasting its distinct colonial-era brickwork and door arches. One can also see the iconic Jamestown Lighthouse, built in the 1871 and eventually featuring its recognizable banded facade.

Customs of Remembrance

Equally remarkable about Jamestown is the ever-present sight of funeral posters. Wherever you look, be it affixed to buildings or on larger hoardings, there are service information and phrases of loss. In Jamestown, similar to the rest of Ghana, funerals are significant communal events.

In this spectacular installation, all of the sensory and spiritual landscape of Jamestown are captured – particularly in the enveloping Jamestown nshonaa piece. Here, visitors are calmed by the audio of crashing waves with granules on the floor, while shacks, draped nets and depictions of boats celebrate its spirited, generational maritime community. However being present in this gallery, it's hard to ignore the piles of cast-off garments that mar the aesthetics and serenity of the region.

Beyond the Centrepiece

The festival program included much more. Inside an raw space at the campus, creator Reginald Sylvester II presented a deeply moving minimalist collection, an emotionally powerful, stripped-back show that displayed three-dimensional works and artworks produced in partnership with artisans.

And then there is the competition for female artists for Ghanaian women creators. It included the debut presentation of a prior recipient, whose work references personal family archives to produce a artistic representation of life in post-independence Ghana. The event also crowned a latest winner, whose diverse work is particularly invested in the craft techniques of women in the Volta region.

An Enduring Presence

Although the global African community has more and more been attracted home to west Africa during the winter months, an increasing number are contemplating journeying for the cultural season to immerse themselves in the region’s festival period. Between this festival and other major events, what emerges are creative communities that are not merely emerging or “upcoming” but have established an whole universe that is here to stay.

Finally, the experience offers a image of Accra that serves as a manifesto for conservation and the preservation of heritage. It is a resonant testament to resilience in all its forms.