From the moment of their first known contact with the West, in 1471, the Akan people of Ghana have been recognized for their rich and captivating culture. In particular, the Akan can boast a vibrant artistic tradition of visual forms including, among other things, textiles, sculpture, gold and silver jewelry, and diverse styles of self decoration.[1] Yet, it is their distinctive blending of art and philosophy that has raised the Akan to the ranks of Africa's most accomplished artists.

Generally, the term "Akan" is applied to the group of related peoples residing in the southern, mostly forested, regions of what are today the republics of Ghana and C6te d'Ivoire (Ivory Coast) in West Africa (see map). These include groups such as the Akwapim, Akyem, Anyi, Aowin, Asante, Bono, Denkyira, Fante, Kwahu, Nzima, and Sefwi. [2] Each group has its distinct dialect but shares with other Akan a lingua franca, called Twi. In addition, the Akan groups have other cultural attributes in common, notably the tracing of descent, inheritance of property, and succession to high political office, all of which are determined by matrilineage. The Asante, for example, have seven established family groups, or abusua, each of which traces its origin to a single female founder. Marriage between its members is strictly forbidden. [3]

Far more important for this discussion is the Akan tendency toward political centralization focusing on the rule of chiefs. Within the complex hierarchy of offices beneath the chief (ohene), there are those that have been linked to particular family groups for centuries. These include war captains (asafohene) and priests (akomfo). Because of its influential role, the chief's court has exerted a magnetic pull on craftspeople, voluntarily or involuntarily attracting some of the best skilled artists and artisans. This has resulted in a critical mass of creative talents. The Akan consider art associated with the courts to be communally owned property. Similarly, visual forms express collective values even when they are worn by the ruler, whose importance is defined and accentuated by the works of his community's artists. Generally, every Akan chief has a stool, linguist staff, umbrella, headgear, sandals, textiles, and ornaments. The elaborateness of the political emblems, which stand for their technical excellence and valuable materials, such as gold, depends on the ruler's rank and wealth. The hierarchy of power is paralleled by a hierarchy of visual symbols, to the extent that aesthetic contrasts can distinguish a highly ranked chief from his subordinates.

Yet, an Akan polity, whether at the village, town, or state level, is foremost an association of abusua groups. Each head of an abusua has hereditary rights to a family stool; a clan leader inherits a clan stool and deity or totem. Animals that are sacred to the clan must not be killed or consumed by its members, and representations of them may form an essential component of the group's public image. Each abusua also has vested rights in land, which it parcels out to its members.

Myths and legends of origin occupy a significant place in Akan cultural ideology, as they buttress claims to leadership, land ownership, and control of natural resources. Archaeological and historical research suggests that the Akan probably hailed from somewhere in the northern wooded sudan, or grassland, and settled in their present homeland in the heart of the coastal rain forests at different times over the last six centuries. [4] Our understanding of what might have compelled their southward migration remains conjectural; however, by the fourteenth century (and probably much earlier), pockets of Akan peoples had already established a presence in the area, dislodging or absorbing an aborigine group known a the Guan. From that point on, Akan groups embarked on a drive of urbanization and state formation. The first Akan state, Bono, came to being during this early phase, and was followed by Fetu (1400-1700), Akwamu (I550- I650), Denkyira (I600-I700), and Asante (70000- 90000), which was by far the most dominant of the Akan states.

As Akan states waxed and waned over the centuries, internal migrations occurred. Many coincided with, and were caused by, the break- down and evolution of one Akan kingdom or another. Such events, which are recounted in oral histories, took place as early as the seven- teenth century and continued into the eighteenth and subsequent centuries, as the traumatic and destructive practice of slavery intensified. The eighteenth and nineteenth centuries also witnessed the rising cultural influence of the Asante kingdom, which launched an expansionist policy. Asante con- quests were driven by two factors: first, the desire to seize control of the rich gold mines that were widespread in the forest; and second, the wish to gain direct access to the European trade along the Guinean coast.

The complex and sophisticated Akan culture was shaped to a great extent by long- standing contact with other cultures. The Islamized peoples of the Sudan region have been of critical historical importance to Akan art and culture. Before the sixteenth century, the Akan traded principally with them. Written documents describe Sudanic traders bringing valuable goods-such as textiles and beads -from the Mediterranean and even more distant lands to exchange for Akan gold. [5] From this northern source, too, came ideas that may have inspired some of the best-known Akan artistic forms, including strip-woven textiles (kente), brasswork, political emblems, and distinctive architecture. [6] Contact with Europeans, which began in the late fifteenth century, was equally influential in Akan cultural evolution, producing far-reaching trans- formations. When Europeans arrived on the Atlantic coast, a fundamental shift occurred in the economic focus of the Akan. The Europeans introduced a great array of commodities and stimulated profound social change. Because of their primary role as mediators in European trade, the coastal Fante assimilated Western traits to a greater extent than other Akan peoples.

Akan art is multivalent, comprising figural as well as abstract forms, and employing an extensive repertoire of motifs. Akan artists work with a wide range of materials-precious and simple, permanent and perishable. Sculptures, textiles, architecture, and personal objects, whether intended for household or ceremonial use, appear in precious metals as well as in wood, clay, and fibers. The so-called regalia of chiefship has its origins in ordinary, domestic arts; indeed, some of its elements are simply embellished plebeian forms.

To the Akan, art is not only for aesthetic contemplation but is also part of a complex system of thought. It can generate philosophical debate even when it is utilitarian. Thus a commercial transaction, a right of passage, or even what one wears becomes a vehicle to transmit and share knowledge. Akan art articulates and communicates ideas; probes moral precepts; and memorializes the dead. A highly developed verbal tradition plays a distinctive role in Akan culture: dirges recount history; sayings, including proverbs, teach because they encapsulate wisdom; and poems of praise honor individuals and group accomplishments. Such oral traditions are continually evolving, and their meanings are changing. Consequently, the application of proverbs, songs, and other verbal forms to the imagery in works of art may well be modified to reflect new thinking and shifting social and political conditions.

The many common cultural traits of the Akan people blur the differences between these related groups. Some of these shared elements are due to the movement of Akan artists and their works of art between subregions, making it extremely difficult to identify isolated traits. But the notion of commonality does not stifle the personal style or vision of artists or diminish the importance of the influence of patrons. Scholars of Akan cultures have begun to examine the achievements of individual artists, and there is good reason to believe that they will continue to identify other artistic geniuses. [7]