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In the wake of over 50 editions exploring the international Black diaspora, this represents a final dispatch. The experience proved deeply rewarding, and sincere thanks extended to all the attentive audience.

Inside the Accra Festival

Experiencing the displays, installations and shows of the festival, it becomes clear how the finest art feeds and builds a country’s history and identity. The highlight was certainly Serge Attukwei Clottey’s remarkable a profound exploration of ritual and time, which put his groundbreaking afrogallonism in full view: a concept that reimagines yellow jerrycans into captivating art pieces, mosaics of golden hues. The show was conceived as a tribute to the resilience of the historic district, a historic quarter of Accra.

This area – largely home to the Ga community, a fishing community – is also where numerous freed slaves arrived from Brazil and settled in the 1830s. Referred to as the Tabom community, they introduced Brazilian language and culture.

All across Jamestown, you can see a blend of building designs. Standing is Franklin House, with its characteristic Portuguese masonry and door arches. Also present is the iconic lighthouse of Jamestown, built in the 1800s and subsequently sporting its recognizable red-and-white-striped exterior.

A Culture of Remembrance

Also striking about Jamestown is the ever-present presence of funeral posters. Wherever you look, be it plastered over buildings or on sizable hoardings, there are funeral details and phrases of mourning. In Jamestown, mirroring customs in Ghana, funerals are major communal events.

In Clottey’s impressive show, the entirety of the sensory and spiritual landscape of Jamestown are captured – particularly in the immersive Jamestown nshonaa piece. Here, one is relaxed by the sound of crashing waves with sand at your feet, while beach huts, hanging fishing nets and depictions of canoes pay homage to its spirited, multigenerational seafaring tradition. However experiencing this gallery, the mind turns to the heaps of discarded clothing that mar the aesthetics and peace of the shoreline.

In Addition to the Centrepiece

There is additional highlights. Inside an incomplete building at the University of Ghana, artist Sylvester presented a deeply moving minimalist collection, an incredibly moving, stripped-back exhibition that displayed three-dimensional works and artworks made in collaboration with welders.

Another key element is the competition for female artists for women artists of Ghanaian origin. It included the debut presentation of a recent laureate, whose work draws on personal family archives to produce a depiction of life in Ghana after independence. The event also announced a new winner, whose varied work is particularly focused on the craft techniques of women in Dabala.

A Permanent Legacy

Although the diaspora has increasingly been pulled back to Ghana in the winter months, an increasing number are contemplating journeying some months earlier to experience the region’s festival period. Between this festival and regional art fairs, what emerges are art scenes that are not simply nascent or “upcoming” but have built up an whole world that is permanent.

Ultimately, the experience provides a perception of Accra that feels like a statement for ecological stewardship and the preservation of tradition. It is a compelling tribute to resilience in all its forms.