Nkyinkyim Museum

Nkyinkyim Museum is located in the swampy mangroves of Nuhalenya, a small village in Adah Foah in the Greater Accra Region. The Nkyinkyim Museum is named after the Akan Adinkra symbol of the same name which means “ twisted and intertwined”  Through the creation of sculptors, acclaimed Ghanaian sculptors and artists Kwame Akoto Bamfo vividly portrays how African ancestors were kidnapped and coerced into slavery.  Using the ancient Akan tradition of creating portraits of the dead, Kwame illustrateswhat  the African ancestors faced during the TransAtlantic slave trade. . The museum houses 1,500 concrete life size heads and 3,000 terracotta miniature sculptured heads that represent Africans who were abducted sold and forcibly trafficked during th transatlantic slave trade. The portraits carry the captive’s fear, shock, horror, distress and anger communicated through their facial expressions in a large-scale installation.  Nkyinkyim Museum has become a top destination for many tourists, mainly Africans living in the Diaspora. For them, the Museum is a place to connect to their heritage and  ancestors. 

Nkyinkyim Museum is a space dedicated to visual archiving of African history and African Heritage. Nestled in the farmlands of Nuhalenya-Ada in the Greater Accra region of Ghana is Nkyinkyim Museum which evolved from Nkyinkyim Installation. Nkyinkyim Installation and Museum is the creation of Ghanaian multi-disciplinary artist Kwame Akoto-Bamfo. 

The revolutionary museum seamlessly combines African art, history and performance; intangible cultural heritage such as drumming, dancing, traditional rites and food. The Museum is known for using griots to unravel history and symbolism that is rooted in traditional African religion and philosophy.

The museum experience has been specially designed to guide visitors towards healing and restorative justice.

An ever evolving Museum, Kwame Akoto-Bamfo, his Osramba Studio team and other creative and researchers in the African diaspora add new artworks to the museum space every six months.

The Museum is also known for 3 festivals: Ancestral Veneration Ceremony in August, Freedom Parade and Nkyinkyim Za: Creative Communal Labour.

The museum is also known for Nsiso/Nsodie; funerary portraits created in memory of enslaved Ancestors. Guests from the African diaspora can pre-arrange to have their portrait sculpture made (realistic or stylised) and added to the enslaved space of Nkyinkyim Museum. Nkyinkyim Museum is managed by our Non-profit Organisation Ancestor Project.

Nkyinkyim Museum is a communal based effort to archive, preserve and promote tangible and intangible African heritage as well as promoting healing through restorative justice. Our spaces welcome all kinds of contributions from everyone. Everyone is welcome to contribute to the restorative efforts being championed by the museum and the African diaspora. While creative artists have been the most contributors in the past, contributing efforts have come from multiple professional categories and genres; historians, anthropologists, traditional priests, musicians, digital artists, archaeologists and independent researchers.

Supporting contemporary artists, designers and makers has always been at the heart of the NKYINKYIM’s mission. Our Residency Programme enables creative practitioners to gain unique access to the Museum’s collections, archives and curatorial expertise.