National Museum of Ghana

The National Museum of Ghana stands at No. 2 Barnes Road in Adabraka, in the Accra Metropolitan Area of the Greater Accra Region. It opened on 5 March 1957, the eve of Ghana's independence, and is owned and operated by the Ghana Museums and Monuments Board (GMMB), which describes it as the premier custodian of the nation's cultural heritage, with collections spanning archaeology, ethnography and art.

Inside, three main galleries deal with Ghana's past, its traditions, and the country's arts culture. Displays cover prehistoric Africa; sculpture and paintings by pioneering and contemporary Ghanaian artists; traditional attire; indigenous musical instruments; sacred artefacts such as Asante ancestral stools; chiefs' regalia; gold weights; beads; textiles, stools and pottery; and exhibits on traditional dance, agriculture, iron making and the slave trade in Ghana. Wider African material includes Senfu masks from Cote d'Ivoire, Zulu wooden figures and bead-ware from Southern Africa, ancient Ife bronze heads from Nigeria, and Bushongo carvings from the Congo.

The building itself is part of the story: it was built by the Gold Coast Public Works Department with British architects Denys Lasdun and Lindsay Drake, in concrete with windows set in saw-toothed angles, and a low saucer-shaped aluminium dome above an ambulatory past the porte cochere. The museum closed in 2015 for restoration and reopened in 2022.

On site there is a sculpture garden with life-size statues of historical figures including Kwame Nkrumah, a gift shop selling traditional Ghanaian handicrafts, a library, a conservation laboratory, and the Education Hall, used for conferences, seminars and workshops. Guided tours are available.

Opening hours are 9:00 am to 4:30 pm daily. GMMB lists entrance fees in Ghanaian cedis, reviewed in July 2023: Ghanaian adults GHS 20 and non-Ghanaian adults GHS 80, with lower rates for primary, JHS, SHS and tertiary students, and higher rates for non-Ghanaian students. GMMB notes these rates were listed prior to a recent revision, so a further revision may apply; confirm current fees before travelling. Groups should not exceed 70 people at a time, and school tours must be scheduled in writing three weeks in advance, with teachers supervising students.