Ghana street art – graffiti artists brighten up the city of Accra, one vibrant mural at a time!

All over Accra artists are transforming dull walls and spaces into vibrant Ghana street art depicting the country’s rich culture and bold colours! The talented minds and hands of Ghana’s graffiti street artists are hard at work beautifying the city, one incredible mural at a time!

A new metal street artwork in Accra…

A few months ago I heard that a new street artwork made from metal had been installed at the Ako Adjei Interchange in Accra Ghana which which is only about a fifteen minute walk from our home, so I took a walk with my kids to learn more. I stood on the narrow ledge of pavement and was highly aware of the loud late afternoon traffic with trotro’s (mini bus taxis) and cars hurtling past, all a little too close for comfort! I ran my hands along the pieces of warped metal and looked up, trying to take in the colourful piece in front of me – a tiny part of this elongated artwork that had been erected on a wall on the side of an exit road of a very busy ‘round about’. I was fascinated by the different textures, shapes and details on it! It had an unusually wonderful playful quality to it with its bumpy tactile feel and happy bold colours.

…with so many intricate details!

The tiny metal hoops used to join the metal pieces together were so miniscule compared to the scale of this massive piece. I wondered how long it had taken the artist to insert them?…..how many hundreds of hoops he had used in this piece?….. how he managed to handle all of this stiff metal and merge and blend it together? It made me think of a designer leather bag I saw recently by South African brand Missibaba with various shapes of dyed leather stitched together, but this metal artwork had irregular pieces jutting out, joined to other pieces by these copper coloured loops. They reminded me of the small hoop sleeper earrings I used to wear when I first had my ears pierced as a tween!

Ghanaian artist Tei Huagie and some coincidences!

Curious about how this street art was made, I reached out to the Ghanaian artist Tei Huagie on Instagram and after scrolling through some of his previous photos some lovely synchronicities emerged – I discovered that he is also the mastermind (and hands) of the incredible strip quilt/patchwork African wax piece that I’m standing in front of in the cover photo of my blog. That photo was taken when my friend Lotte and I went to the ‘Wax Fest’ in 2019 in Accra which was a lovely event that showcased everything to do with African wax print textiles and we were so impressed by these dramatic quilts of various red and blue African wax fabrics pieced together.

I also realised that Tai created a 3D metal sculpture that I was intrigued by at the Chale Wote festival which is an annual street art festival that takes place in August every year in Jamestown Ghana. In 2019 we went to this festival with our dear friends Anna and Emil who are now living in Zurich and saw so many talented Ghanaian street artists at work!

Huagie’s creative process

Ghanaian artist Tei works in many different mediums and also does Acrylic paintings which can be seen on his Instagram. When chatting to him he was still to add the final 50 metres to the 30 metres that we had first seen, making the soon to be finished artwork an impressive 80 metre piece hanging on the road wall. He told me that it had taken him 3 months to make the initial 30 metres. The mediums he uses are aluminium metal sheets, copper wires and metallic spray paint. He frequently credits his helper – ‘his sons’ who assist him with these large scale street art pieces. During the Covid lockdown in Ghana work went on as usual for them and it was all hands on deck to finish the piece. In some shots they are sitting on scaffolding under umbrellas to shield them from the hot equatorial sun.

When a few weeks ago Tei and his helpers added the final 50 metres we took a slow family walk on a quiet Sunday afternoon and the traffic was far calmer this time, allowing us to take our time to look closely at the piece. After weeks of feeling unwell from Covid, it was our first time out and this stroll felt extra special after being cooped up at home. We were still feeling rather fragile and weak from being sick and so enjoyed the comforting embrace and shade of the bent and buckled Neem trees again, that so beautifully shelter our street.

The meaning of Huagie’s metal street artwork ‘National Inspiration’

Tai told me a bit about the process of his art – he collects old and used aluminium roof sheets, some dating back to the colonial times in Ghana (Ghana gained its independence in 1957 from British rule), and turns them into art works. “These are still strong to serve a purpose” he says. The title of this roadside piece is “National Inspiration” and the work was commissioned by the Creative Art Council of Ghana through the Chale Wote Street art Festival secretariat.

Tai explains that the main sentiment of this work is to inspire his fellow Ghanaian citizens and all persons in the world to know that big dreams can become a reality, however long the journey they can be achieved. “It is a piece that will strengthen you to keep going on your journey or future ambition any time you see it” he says. Looking at the footprints on the work I can see how it literally represents a journey too. The second instalment has three 3D faces as well as optimistic words like ‘work hard’, ‘love all’, ‘hate not’ and ‘lets jaw jaw not war war’. 

Incredible Ghana street art at the Akai Adjei Interchange in Accra

Several months ago the grey and dark Ako Adjei Interchange in Accra Ghana which consists of a turning circle and undercover areas where pedestrians can walk, was transformed into a place of colour and beauty by several other talented graffiti artists. The funding for these artworks came from multiple sources, one of them being the Rotary Club of Ghana. It was really wonderful watching these pieces being created and birthed. Every time I would drive past there would be groups of artists clustered around what were previously bland concrete walls, some were sculpting 3D faces and bodies with their hands, others were sitting high on scaffolding, paintbrushes in hand adding delicate life-like features to figures that were coming to life.  Artists were standing spray painting brilliant colours onto the large walls then taking a step back, heads tilted, checking themselves and making sure that their designs and marks aligned with their vision, that was fast becoming a reality for all living in Accra to admire and see.

Ghanaian artists don’t sleep!

I came home from a dinner at 1am one morning and there several artists were, their bodies lit up by the fluorescent artificial night light under the enclosure, working on the concrete piece, patiently giving this material the time it needs to dry and harden. The process was fascinating and I have some of that footage in my Instagram archived stories if you would like to see under ‘Mural Making’.

Ghana street art depicting Ghanaian, Beninese and Togolese cultures

The end results are incredibly striking depictions of Ghanaian, and neighbouring Beninese and Togolese cultures in a variety of artistic styles. Along one wall men and women carry large bowls of libation on their heads as you see at local festivals here. Sticks, palm fronds and pieces of grass jut out from large silver bowls, the weight of which can be judged from the strained expressions on the faces of the people carrying them. At time they are in awkward positions showing the ‘possession’ by the spirits that is taking place. (To read more about this see my post about the Jamestown Twins Festival).

On another strip of long wall there is what looks like an other-worldy space scene in neon pinks, emerald greens and purples and when I took the photo below of my son and daughter looking at it and posted it on Instagram I felt it so accurately described how many of us have felt looking onto the world this year – it feels unrecognisable and utterly bizarre at times with the Covid 19 virus impacting so heavily on all spheres of life.

Despite warnings to the public about punishments that would be incurred should the artworks be defaced, for a while there were stubborn people who were writing all over the red of this large piece below with religious inscriptions, and every few weeks these would have to be painted over but perhaps they were finally caught as I’m pleased to say that for many weeks now we haven’t seen any of this writing on the glorious big base of Coca-Cola logo colour.

Street art of Beninese Voodoo Capes

The surrounding columns have been covered with depictions of ceremonial Voodoo cape coverings from Benin like this one photographed by David Stanley and are painted in neon colours with fabulous detail and motifs. When you stand looking onto them the bright colours of the 3D sculpture seems to be perfectly framed in between them in the distance.  

Ghana street art that is larger than life!

The scale of these artworks is also what makes them so special and unique. A women seems to be effortlessly summoning a massive wave of the nearby Atlantic ocean with her hands, a huge colourful fishing boat takes up the width another wall and the way the artists have handled seamlessly painting across many individual concrete pieces like those of a large jigsaw puzzle is impressive!

Along with the bold African wax fabrics you see everyone wearing here, these artworks really brighten up the Accra environment. It all started with this mural in Airport area about a year ago that was painted on the side of one of the bridges. Popular motifs that you see on wax fabric have been included and are instantly recognisable.

Then this magnificent woman appeared on the wall outside of the Acrilex art and stationary store in Osu after some graffiti artistis worked their magic for a few days. She is an exquisite sight to behold with her earrings containing the Accra city scape, her colourful headwrap and all-knowing content eyes.

Work in progress artworks

Currently there are amazing new huge murals being worked on in Airport area showing a royal African family with chiefs and queen mothers included, and we enjoyed seeing these in the making recently. There is also one of a peacock although it was impossible to photograph the whole thing driving past! The only pity is that you really need to try to drive slowly past these works of art, which is virtually impossible to do on a highway or in a round-about here, where they are situated, so if there is opportunity to take a walk so that you can enjoy and explore all of their glorious details that would be best.   

More street art murals in Accra

A few weeks ago my friend Lotte who started the Ghana Food Movement came back from a morning with Chef Elijah Amoo Addo who for many years has fed the poor and vulnerable in Accra with his organisation called Food for All Africa. They prepare daily meals from leftovers from supermarkets, restaurants, hotels and farms and then hand them out to those in need. When showing me photos of what the morning involved she had also taken some pictures of nearby murals and I was again blown away by the artistic talent in this city and so happy that many of us can enjoy this beauty.

Many magnificently adorned walls wait to be discovered in Accra – my eyes are wide open hoping to find some more, I hope yours are too!   

*All photos used in my posts are taken by me unless otherwise credited. Please do not use them without permission.

You may find my other blog posts on the following pages useful:

• Living in Ghana – my musings on expat life in Accra
• Best places to discover and see in Accra
• Ghana culture and life – so much to explore
• Local Ghana festivals not to be missed
• Holidays in Ghana – our favourite places to escape to