Akropong-Akuapem · Eastern Region · Ghana

The DigitalMuseum

A museum with no walls and no closing time. Six rooms hold the heritage of Akropong — the court, the festival, the objects, the photographs, the voices — and the story of a friendship with Shoreline, Washington. Walk in.

01The CourtRoyal heritage — the Okuapehene and the Akuapem state, from the 1730s to today.02OdwiraThe festival that washes the year clean and calls everyone home.03The ObjectsThirty catalogued pieces: stools and chairs, clay and brass, cloth, drums and war dress.04The Photo ArchiveThe first accession photographs, plus an open call to the family albums.05The VoicesOral histories recorded with the elders of Akropong.06The HandshakeHow Akropong and Shoreline, Washington became sisters.
Room 01 — Royal heritage

The Court of the Okuapehene

Akropong is the seat of the Okuapehene, paramount chief of the Akuapem state — a confederation of hill towns that came together in the 1730s and has been governed from this ridge ever since. This room traces that line.

c. 1730s

The Akuapem state is born

The hill towns unite under one paramount stool, seated at Akropong.

1835

The Basel Mission arrives

Missionaries settle on the ridge; Akropong becomes a centre of learning and the written Twi language.

1848

A college on the hill

The Presbyterian teacher-training college opens at Akropong — among the oldest in West Africa.

Yearly

Odwira leads the calendar

Akropong opens the festival season for all the Akuapem towns.

2024

Shoreline looks to Akropong

Across the ocean, a city council begins discussing a new sister city on the ridge.

2026

The association is founded

ASCA adopts its constitution and this museum opens its doors — everywhere at once.

A brass-studded asipim chair with a cast finial, from the Akropong collection
Photographs are shown in full colour — the gold, the kente and the green of the hills are part of the record.
Room 02 — The festival

Odwira: the year is washed clean

Every year Akropong leads the Akuapem towns in Odwira — a week of purification, remembrance and homecoming. The ban on noise is lifted, the ancestral stools are honoured, the new yam comes to town, and everyone who ever left finds their way back up the ridge.

Three cast bells hanging from a fibre cord

The bells

Rung to open the ban on noise and to call the town to order. Collection of Akropong-Akuapem.

Dried herbs and pods bound with fibre, hung from a nail

The purifying herbs

Bound herbs kept for the washing of the stools — the act Odwira is named for.

A horsetail whisk with a carved and beaded handle

The horsetail whisk

Carried beside the chief in procession, sweeping the air before him.

Room 03 — Material culture

The objects our hands made

Photographed against a plain wall in Akropong, object by object — seats of authority, the vessels of a household, cloth, drums and war dress. Hover any piece to read its entry.

Seats of authority

6 pieces

A stool holds the soul of a household; a brass-studded asipim chair seats the one who speaks for the state. These came out of the stool house together.

A pale carved Akan stool with openwork centre column

Akan stool

Carved from one block — five columns, a saddle seat, and adinkra piercings through the centre post.

ASCA 001 · Akan stoolCarved from one block — five columns, a saddle seat, and adinkra piercings through the centre post.
A carved stool with a pierced decorative centre panel

Stool, pierced panel

The openwork panel names the owner’s clan to anyone who knows how to read it.

ASCA 002 · Stool, pierced panelThe openwork panel names the owner’s clan to anyone who knows how to read it.
A worn carved stool with metal repair at one column

Stool, long in use

Worn smooth at the seat and patched with metal — evidence of generations, not damage.

ASCA 003 · Stool, long in useWorn smooth at the seat and patched with metal — evidence of generations, not damage.
A brass-studded asipim chair with cast finials

Asipim chair

Imported chair form remade in Akan terms: hide seat, brass studs, cast finials at the shoulders.

ASCA 004 · Asipim chairImported chair form remade in Akan terms: hide seat, brass studs, cast finials at the shoulders.
A wooden chair with carved back splat and brass corner plates

Chair, carved back

The splat carved in balusters and discs; brass plates at every joint.

ASCA 005 · Chair, carved backThe splat carved in balusters and discs; brass plates at every joint.
The studded back and frame of an asipim chair

Chair, studded frame

Seen from behind — thousands of hand-set studs, and the empty frame where the hide has gone.

ASCA 006 · Chair, studded frameSeen from behind — thousands of hand-set studs, and the empty frame where the hide has gone.

Vessels of the household

9 pieces

Blackened clay and beaten brass: what a compound cooked in, served from, and washed with. Everyday things, which is exactly why they rarely survive.

A large blackened clay cooking pot

Cooking pot

Burnished black earthenware, wide-shouldered, fired in an open pit.

ASCA 011 · Cooking potBurnished black earthenware, wide-shouldered, fired in an open pit.
A black clay lidded tureen with two handles

Lidded tureen

Two lugs and a turned lid — soup carried hot from the fire to the room.

ASCA 012 · Lidded tureenTwo lugs and a turned lid — soup carried hot from the fire to the room.
A black clay bowl with a flared rim

Eating bowl

The flared rim keeps the fingers clean; a household would own many.

ASCA 013 · Eating bowlThe flared rim keeps the fingers clean; a household would own many.
A shallow black clay dish

Shallow dish

For grinding pepper, or for offerings set down at the door.

ASCA 014 · Shallow dishFor grinding pepper, or for offerings set down at the door.
A brass basin with a rolled rim

Brass basin

Beaten from sheet and turned at the rim — for washing hands before a meal.

ASCA 015 · Brass basinBeaten from sheet and turned at the rim — for washing hands before a meal.
A brass covered bowl with green verdigris on the lid

Covered brass bowl

Verdigris has taken the lid; the body still holds its polish.

ASCA 016 · Covered brass bowlVerdigris has taken the lid; the body still holds its polish.
A small footed brass dish with a pierced border

Footed dish, pierced rim

Three cast feet and a fretted border — a serving piece for guests.

ASCA 017 · Footed dish, pierced rimThree cast feet and a fretted border — a serving piece for guests.
A carved wooden ladle standing upright

Wooden ladle

One piece of wood, thinned at the bowl by decades of stirring.

ASCA 018 · Wooden ladleOne piece of wood, thinned at the bowl by decades of stirring.
A gourd bowl filled with raffia fibre

Gourd with raffia

A calabash half packed with raffia — a strainer for palm wine.

ASCA 019 · Gourd with raffiaA calabash half packed with raffia — a strainer for palm wine.

Cloth, drum and dress

7 pieces

Cloth is text and the drum is speech. Both are how Akropong said things that mattered before anything was written down.

Folded kente cloth in gold, black and green stripes

Kente cloth

Gold, black and green strips sewn edge to edge; folded as it is stored.

ASCA 021 · Kente clothGold, black and green strips sewn edge to edge; folded as it is stored.
Cream hand-woven cloth with dark diamond motifs

Cloth with diamond motifs

Hand-spun cotton, hand-stamped — mended, worn, and kept anyway.

ASCA 022 · Cloth with diamond motifsHand-spun cotton, hand-stamped — mended, worn, and kept anyway.
A drum wrapped in brown and green strip-woven cloth

Drum in strip cloth

Peg-tuned, wrapped in woven cloth, carried on a leather strap.

ASCA 023 · Drum in strip clothPeg-tuned, wrapped in woven cloth, carried on a leather strap.
A cloth-covered drum tied with red bands

Drum, bound in red

Red bands mark it for mourning; the head is stretched hide, pegged and laced.

ASCA 024 · Drum, bound in redRed bands mark it for mourning; the head is stretched hide, pegged and laced.
A dark war smock covered in leather amulet packets

Batakari kese

The great war smock: leather packets sewn over the chest, each one a written prayer.

ASCA 025 · Batakari keseThe great war smock: leather packets sewn over the chest, each one a written prayer.
A worn and torn smock stained by dye

Smock, dye-stained

Torn to the lining and stained by earth-dye — the oldest garment in the collection.

ASCA 026 · Smock, dye-stainedTorn to the lining and stained by earth-dye — the oldest garment in the collection.
A dark leather box tooled with a gold rosette motif

Leather cushion-box

Hide over a wooden core, tooled with a rosette in gold leaf.

ASCA 027 · Leather cushion-boxHide over a wooden core, tooled with a rosette in gold leaf.

Sound, iron and the shrine

8 pieces

Horns that announce, bells that gather, iron that clears the land, and small containers whose contents were nobody’s business but the custodian’s.

A carved ivory horn standing upright

Ivory horn

Side-blown, incised at the mouthpiece — it plays the chief’s appellations, not a tune.

ASCA 031 · Ivory hornSide-blown, incised at the mouthpiece — it plays the chief’s appellations, not a tune.
Three cast bells hanging from a fibre cord

Cast bells

Three bells on one cord: the sound that opens a procession.

ASCA 032 · Cast bellsThree bells on one cord: the sound that opens a procession.
A horsetail whisk with carved handle

Horsetail whisk

Carried beside the chief, sweeping the air ahead of him.

ASCA 033 · Horsetail whiskCarried beside the chief, sweeping the air ahead of him.
Dried herbs and pods bound with fibre

Bound herbs

Kept for purification — the plants used when the stools are washed at Odwira.

ASCA 034 · Bound herbsKept for purification — the plants used when the stools are washed at Odwira.
Two corroded iron blades leaning together

Iron blades

Forged locally; the split socket shows where a wooden haft once sat.

ASCA 035 · Iron bladesForged locally; the split socket shows where a wooden haft once sat.
A corroded iron hoe blade with tang

Hoe blade

The tool that made the farms that fed the ridge.

ASCA 036 · Hoe bladeThe tool that made the farms that fed the ridge.
A small brass jar with a narrow neck

Small brass jar

A container for gold dust, or for something the custodian did not name.

ASCA 037 · Small brass jarA container for gold dust, or for something the custodian did not name.
A stitched leather cylindrical case

Stitched leather case

Hide stitched around a core, worn through at one end.

ASCA 038 · Stitched leather caseHide stitched around a core, worn through at one end.
Room 04 — Photo archive

Akropong, then and now

The first accession photographs, taken as the collection was catalogued. Alongside them, an open call: the association is gathering pictures of Akropong from family albums on both sides of the ocean.

A war smock hung with leather amulet packets in black, red and cream

Batakari kese — the war smock

Sewn over with leather packets, each one a prayer carried into the field.

A drum bound in cloth and tied with red bands

Drum, bound in red

Red cloth marks a drum kept for mourning and remembrance.

Hand-woven cloth panels with black and ochre diamond motifs

Woven panels

Strip-woven cloth, stitched panel to panel — the pattern reads across the seam.

Folded kente cloths in orange, red, indigo and white blocks

Kente, folded

Kept folded between wearings; brought out for festival and funeral.

A carved ivory horn lying on its side

The horn

A pale carved Akan stool with openwork centre column

The stool

Room 05 — Oral histories

Voices of the ridge

Recordings are being gathered now with elders in Akropong. These are the first four sittings — press play to imagine the room.

Growing up on the High Street

Elder sitting 01 — recording in progress

12:40

How Odwira week unfolds

Elder sitting 02 — recording in progress

18:05

Market day, before the road came

Elder sitting 03 — recording in progress

09:22

A story from the stool house

Elder sitting 04 — recording in progress

15:47

Room 06 — The sister-city story

How two towns shook hands

2003

Shoreline

Shoreline, Washington signs its first sister city: Boryeong, South Korea.

2010–23

Shoreline

The relationship goes quiet; in 2024 the council formally closes the program.

2024

Shoreline

A councilmember proposes something new: a sister city relationship with Akropong, Republic of Ghana — built around culture, education, economic opportunity and sustainability.

2025

Akropong

On the ridge, community leaders begin organising under the auspices of the traditional authority.

2026

Akropong

The Akropong Sister City Association adopts its constitution — non-profit, non-partisan, open to all — and gets to work.

Next

Both

Registration, first exchanges, and this museum growing room by room. The handshake becomes a habit.

Every stool has a story.Lend yours to the archive.

Photographs, recordings, objects, memories — from Akropong, from Shoreline, from anywhere the family has scattered. The museum grows one contribution at a time.

Contribute a photo or a memoryBack to the association
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