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After over 50 editions navigating the international Black diaspora, this represents a concluding dispatch. The journey was profoundly rewarding, with great gratitude directed to every one of the attentive audience.

A Look Inside the Accra Festival

Experiencing the exhibitions, installations and performances of Accra Cultural Week, one sees how the finest art nourishes and constructs a nation's past and essence. The centrepiece was certainly the artist's stunning [Dis]Appearing Rituals: An Open Lab of Now for Tomorrow, which put his pioneering afrogallonism for all to see: a approach that converts yellow jerrycans into captivating works of art, mosaics of yellow, brass and gold. The display was conceived as a homage to the strength of Jamestown, a historic neighbourhood of Accra.

This area – predominantly inhabited by the Ga community, a seafaring people – is additionally where a great number of returning Africans returned from Brazil and established themselves in the 1830s. Known as the Tabom, they brought Brazilian language and customs.

All across Jamestown, you can see a mix of architecture. You'll find a historic building, boasting its characteristic Portuguese brickwork and curved entrances. Also present is the iconic beacon, erected in the 1871 and later given its recognizable striped facade.

A Culture of Mourning

Furthermore notable about Jamestown is the pervasive presence of memorial notices. Everywhere you turn, whether affixed to walls or on big signboards, there are announcements and terms of mourning. In Jamestown, as throughout Ghana, memorial services are large-scale communal events.

In this spectacular show, the entirety of the sensory and spiritual landscape of Jamestown are present – especially in the enveloping shoreline installation. Within it, visitors are calmed by the recording of crashing waves with sand on the floor, while beach huts, draped nets and representations of boats celebrate its dynamic, generational seafaring tradition. Yet standing in this gallery, one cannot help but think of the piles of cast-off garments that threaten the aesthetics and peace of the area.

Beyond the Headline Act

There is much more. Within an unfinished structure at the local university, artist Reginald Sylvester II showcased On the Other Side of Languish, an profoundly affecting, minimalist show that included sculptures and artworks produced in concert with welders.

Another key element is the prestigious art award for Ghanaian women creators. It included the debut presentation of a recent recipient, whose work references personal family archives to produce a depiction of life in post-independence Ghana. The event also announced a latest champion, whose multidisciplinary work is intensely concerned with the craft techniques of women in Dabala.

A Lasting Legacy

While the overseas community has grown been drawn back to Ghana during the winter months, a growing cohort are thinking about journeying for the cultural season to engage with the region’s artistic calendar. Between this festival and other major events, what emerges are creative communities that are not simply emerging or “upcoming” but have built up an whole world that is permanent.

Finally, the experience provides a perception of Accra that resembles a statement for conservation and the safeguarding of heritage. It is a resonant tribute to perseverance in all its manifestations.