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Following in excess of fifty issues exploring the international Black diaspora, this signifies a final dispatch. The tenure was deeply gratifying, and great appreciation directed to all the attentive followers.

A Look Inside the Cultural Week

Attending the exhibitions, artworks and shows of the festival, observers witness how superior art nourishes and builds a nation's history and essence. The centrepiece was without doubt Serge Attukwei Clottey’s exquisite [Dis]Appearing Rituals: An Open Lab of Now for Tomorrow, which displayed his groundbreaking afrogallonism in full view: a concept that reimagines yellow jerrycans into captivating creations, mosaics of golden hues. The display was designed as a tribute to the resilience of this area, a venerable quarter of Accra.

The community – largely inhabited by the Ga ethnic group, a seafaring people – is furthermore where numerous returning Africans returned from South America and made their home in the 1830s. Called the Tabom community, they carried with them Portuguese tongue and customs.

All across Jamestown, visitors encounter a mix of architecture. Standing is a historic building, with its unique European-style masonry and curved entrances. One can also see the prominent beacon, built in the 1871 and subsequently featuring its recognizable banded appearance.

A Culture of Celebration

Also notable about Jamestown is the ubiquitous presence of funeral posters. Wherever you look, whether plastered over walls or on big hoardings, one finds announcements and expressions of mourning. In Jamestown, as throughout Ghana, final rites are large-scale community celebrations.

In this spectacular installation, the entirety of the sights, sounds and religious textures of Jamestown are present – notably in the immersive beach-themed work. Within it, you’re soothed by the sound of crashing waves with beach material underfoot, while beach huts, draped nets and images of canoes celebrate its dynamic, long-standing fishing community. But standing in this exhibition space, it's hard to ignore the heaps of textile waste that threaten the beauty and peace of the area.

Beyond the Centrepiece

There is a great deal more. Inside an incomplete building at the local university, artist Reginald Sylvester II showcased On the Other Side of Languish, an profoundly affecting, minimalist show that included sculptures and paintings made in partnership with metalworkers.

Another key element is the competition for female artists for Ghanaian women creators. It showcased the first solo show of a recent recipient, whose work utilizes familial archival records to craft a visual impression of life in Ghana after independence. The event also crowned a new champion, whose varied work is particularly invested in the weaving practices of women in the Volta region.

A Lasting Presence

While the global African community has increasingly been attracted home to west Africa in the winter months, more and more are contemplating travelling for the cultural season to immerse themselves in the area's festival period. Between Accra Cultural Week and similar gatherings, what you’ll find are cultural ecosystems that are not merely nascent or “rising” but have forged an whole landscape that is here to stay.

In the end, the experience provides a vision of Accra that feels like a declaration for conservation and the preservation of heritage. It is a powerful testament to resilience in all its manifestations.