African Heritage Design: Entertainment Media and Visual Aesthetics in Ghana

Abstract

This paper explores the plurality and dynamics of ‘cultural heritage’ formation in Ghana by looking at key players in the historically constituted heritage arena and the contestations between them. Focusing on the intersecting domains of the state, religion, and entertainment media, it discerns several tendencies with regard to the framing of cultural pasts : mobilization of ‘heritage’ by the state as part of national identity politics ; contestation of this state project by Pentecostal churches that view ‘heritage’ as demonic and dangerous ; and revaluation of ‘heritage’ as aesthetic style in local television and video making. Recent, market-driven trends towards a more positive representation of ‘African heritage’ depart from earlier state initiatives in their explicit focus on visual style and design, raising new questions about the links between heritage and visual aesthetics and asking for an understanding of cultural heritage that takes into account issues of style, design, and commerce.