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After in excess of 50 editions exploring the global Black diaspora, this marks a final piece. The experience has been deeply fulfilling, and sincere appreciation directed to every one of the engaged audience.

Inside the Cultural Week

Visiting the exhibitions, installations and shows of Accra Cultural Week, observers witness how the finest art nourishes and shapes a country’s heritage and essence. The highlight was without doubt Clottey's stunning a profound exploration of ritual and time, which displayed his groundbreaking afrogallonism for all to see: a approach that reimagines plastic containers into mesmerizing creations, tapestries of yellow, brass and gold. The display was designed as a homage to the strength of the historic district, a historic quarter of Accra.

The community – predominantly inhabited by the Ga ethnic group, a seafaring people – is additionally where many returning Africans arrived from Brazil and made their home in the 19th century. Known as the Tabom community, they carried with them Portuguese tongue and customs.

Throughout Jamestown, you can see a blend of building designs. You'll find Fort Vicentia, with its distinct colonial-era brickwork and curved entrances. Another landmark is the famous Jamestown Lighthouse, erected in the 1871 and eventually given its recognizable banded appearance.

Traditions of Mourning

Also remarkable about Jamestown is the pervasive presence of obituary announcements. Everywhere you turn, be it affixed to walls or on larger hoardings, there are funeral details and phrases of loss. In Jamestown, as throughout Ghana, memorial services are major communal events.

In the artist's impressive show, all of the sensory and spiritual landscape of Jamestown are captured – especially in the enveloping Jamestown nshonaa piece. Within it, visitors are calmed by the audio of ocean surf with granules at your feet, while beach huts, hanging fishing nets and depictions of vessels pay homage to its vibrant, long-standing maritime community. However standing in this gallery, it's hard to ignore the heaps of textile waste that threaten the beauty and peace of the area.

Apart from the Centrepiece

Accra Cultural Week also features a great deal more. Within an incomplete building at the campus, artist Sylvester exhibited a deeply moving minimalist collection, an incredibly moving, stripped-back show that featured sculptures and canvases created in collaboration with metalworkers.

Another key element is the competition for female artists for Ghanaian women creators. It showcased the first solo show of a recent laureate, whose work utilizes personal family archives to produce a artistic representation of life in the nation's recent history. The event also announced a current champion, whose diverse work is deeply focused on the weaving practices of women in the Volta region.

A Lasting Legacy

While the global African community has increasingly been pulled home to west Africa in the winter months, a growing cohort are contemplating travelling some months earlier to immerse themselves in the region’s festival period. Between Accra Cultural Week and regional art fairs, what emerges are art scenes that are not merely nascent or “rising” but have forged an entire world that is here to stay.

Finally, the journey offers a perception of Accra that feels like a statement for conservation and the safeguarding of heritage. It is a compelling tribute to perseverance in all its forms.