Ghana's National Museum

Last Saturday was the first free day I spent in Accra. Really. Up to this point, I usually did things around Madina and Legon, the neighborhoods in the outskirts, which is where work and home are.

Around the National Museum, Accra is a very beautiful city, with architecturally magnificent buildings, such as the National Theater and the Flagstaff House, and streets surrounded by trees. It's also a relieving change, to walk on paved sidewalks, next to almost empty streets. On a day to day basis, as noted on the last post, it's mostly about trotros off-roading in the middle of traffic.

National Theater

National Museum

The National Museum is moderately sized, but has very insightful expositions on Ghanaian and West African culture. I'll talk about a few of my favorite examples:

This is a model of how the traditional cloth, kente, is woven. The patterns and colors on a kente cloth have different meanings, similar to what the Adinkra symbols represent. Yellow, for example, means wealth. Each pattern also has a name, and the knowledge of how to weave each one is passed on through the generations.

The throne used by Kwame Nkrumah on his induction as Ghana's first president.

A mask in form of an antelope. Sorry, can' t remember exactly which country this is from, but my guess is Cote D'Ivoire. This is used in a ceremonial dance, asking for a good harvest. These people believe an antelope taught their ancestors how to farm, and symbolizes the necessary skills for good agriculture.

A collection of stools. Stools for traditional rulers in Ghana (chiefs) are the equivalent to thrones for kings. The main difference, however, is that they represent not only political power, but also have spiritual meaning. In some tribes in Ghana, the chief was not allowed to ever touch the stool, as it would then lose its mystical powers.
Like the Adinkra symbols, different shapes and designs of stools symbolize distinct types of rule, such as power and wisdom.
For the Asantes (the largest ethnic group in Ghana), the chief united the people in times of war by telling them a Golden Stool descended from the skies, as a gift of the gods and proof that their empire had their blessing. To this day, the Golden Stool is a symbol of the Asantehene's (Asante chief) power, and is only seen in public in especial occasions.

The Museum also had a great exposition on the Slave Trade in the Gold Coast (as Ghana was known in colonial days). A complete shift in perspective from slavery, as I was used to looking at it from a country that received slaves' perspective. Here, emphasis was placed on slave raids, and how tribal wars were actually the main source of slaves in West Africa.


Oh, this was a first: Ghanaian students wearing Japanese kimonos, dancing Japanese rhythms and combining it with hip hop. Awesome.

Have a great weekend!
Oh, and LET'S GO BRASIL! Wednesday, against Argentina. It's on.

Henrique