Ghana doesn't immediately pop into the mind of collectors and admirers of exotic products; however, Ghana is the home to many unique and authentic handcrafted products that deserve recognition. This tiny West African state offers the global community striking pieces of tribal jewelry, masks and statuettes of traditional African folklore, and beautiful exotically colored cloths just to name a few of the diverse cultural products from Ghana worth admiration. Ghana emerged from the British colony of the Gold Coast and the Togoland Trust Territory. Ghana attained its independence in 1957 and became the first sub-Saharan country in colonial Africa to become an independent nation-state. A long series of political instability resulted in the suspension of its constitution until 1992 when a new constitution, restoring multiparty politics, was approved. Geographically, Ghana is located along the West Coast of Africa, bordering the North Atlantic Ocean between Cote d'Ivoire and Togo with Burkina Faso at its northern border. Comparatively, Ghana is slightly smaller than the American state of Oregon. English is the official language of Ghana; however, there are approximately seventy-five local languages spoken nationwide. The government of Ghana only recognizes nine languages from the major tribes, those languages include: Akan in the Eastern and Ashanti regions, Dagare/Waale in the Upper West region, Dangbe in the Greater Accra or Southeastern region, Dagane in the Northern region, Ewe in the Volta region, Ga in the Greater Accra or Southeastern region, Gonja in the Northern region, Kasem in the Upper East region, and Nzema in the Southwestern region. Ghana is well endowed with natural resources and has roughly twice the per capita output of the poorer countries within Sub-Saharan West Africa. Nonetheless, Ghana remains heavily dependent on international financial and technical assistance and its domestic economy continues to revolve around subsistence agriculture, which accounts for 34% of GDP. In 2003, the US State Department upgraded its rating of Ghana’s telecommunication network from poor to fair, the Internet is now accessible in all regional capitals and although many rural communities are not yet connected the expansion of services is currently underway. The improvement in Ghana’s telecommunication system and Ghana’s consistent stable political environment has enabled KWABLA to establish partnerships with some of Ghana’s fine tribal artisans in the Ashanti, Volta, and Greater Accra Regions. These artisans represent the Ghanaian tribal cultures of the Ashanti , Ewé , and Ga peoples. To browse KWABLA's catalogue of original works of art or view a listing of cultural artisans from Ghana, click on the icons below. |
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| Catalogue of Cultural Goods from Ghana | | | Listing of Cultural Artisans from Ghana | ||
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