Historic Statues at the Africa Culture - Kumasi Centre for National Culture

Explore Ghana

Craft centres in Ghana

Centre for National Culture, Kumasi · Photo: Jude Hammond · License: CC BY-SA 4.0 · Source

Ghana's craft centres are places where things are still made by hand, and where visitors are usually welcome to watch. Across the country you can see kente being woven in Bonwire, adinkra cloth stamped in Ntonso, Bolga baskets shaped from elephant grass in Bolgatanga, and pots hand-built and smoke-blackened at Fesi near Kpando. Some are working workshops, some are markets, and some are cultural centres with museums and galleries attached.

What they share is that the craft is local and the makers are present. What differs is the setting and the rhythm. The Accra Arts Centre is a busy city marketplace with free entry, while Bolgatanga Market comes together every three days and Koforidua's beads market is held on Thursdays. Others, such as the Centre for National Culture in Kumasi, with its Asante craft workshops and the Prempeh II Jubilee Museum, or the Centre for National Culture in Tamale, with its crafts village, are year-round institutions. A few are quiet community projects, like Tafi Abuife in the Volta Region or the Baba Tree Basket Company in Bolgatanga.

One entry here, Kente Village Kpetoe, is a planned project that is not yet an operating attraction, so it is worth knowing before you travel.

Good to know

Before you go

Craft sites are spread across the Ashanti, Eastern, Volta, Upper East, Northern and Greater Accra regions, so group them by area rather than trying to see them all in one trip. Bonwire and Ntonso sit close to Kumasi and pair well together; Koforidua's beads market and the Eastern Regional cultural centre are in the same town; Vume, Fesi and Tafi Abuife are all in the Volta Region. Market days matter: Bolgatanga Market is held every three days and Koforidua's beads market on Thursdays. Before setting out, check that a workshop is open and receiving visitors, and ask before photographing makers or their work. Buying directly from weavers, potters and basket makers is the simplest way to support them.

Start here

Places to explore

Attraction

Attraction · Peki

Peki Craft Village

A roadside craft centre at Peki Anyensu, South Dayi District, Volta Region, where artisans make and repair drums; listed among the district's tourism potentials.

Attraction

Attraction · Sirigu

Sirigu Craft Village / SWOPA

SWOPA is a women's craft cooperative and community tourism centre in Sirigu, Upper East Region, with a visitor centre, gallery, workshop and guesthouse.

Attraction

Attraction · Akpokofe

T.Y. Kente Weaving Enterprise

A working kente weaving enterprise at Agortime Akpokope (Akpokofe) near Kpetoe in the Agotime-Ziope District, Volta Region, producing cloth and woven goods since 1992.

Closer in

More in Ghana