The material cultural heritage of Ghana comprises monuments which include buildings of traditional Ghanaian architecture and decor, such as the Asante Traditional Buildings, the European-built Forts and Castles, and other colonial-era buildings. The movable cultural heritage includes artefacts such as pots, stools, musical instruments, textiles, clothing, leather works, weapons, tools, carvings, masks, jewellery, and ritual dolls.
The material cultural heritage of Ghana also includes several archaeological finds.

Key elements of Ghana’s Cultural Heritage

Key elements of Ghana’s Cultural Heritage under GMMB include the following:

  • A varied collection of Forts and Castles, built and occupied by the Portuguese, Dutch, Danes, Swedes, Germans, French, British and Brandenburg-Prussians between the 15th and 20th Centuries
  • Ten ancient Asante Traditional Buildings dating from the 17th Century to the early 20th Century
  • Mosques in Northern Ghana
  • Artefacts such as pots, stools, musical instruments, textiles, clothing, leather works, weapons, tools, carvings, masks, jewellery, ritual dolls.

All of the Forts and Castles and the Asante Traditional Buildings are inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List.

Other elements of the Ghana Cultural Heritage

Other elements of the Ghana Cultural Heritage include:

  • Adinkra symbols
  • Carved wooden stools
  • Festivals of the various ethnic groups
  • Gold weights
  • Kente cloth
  • Musical genres such as highlife and hiplife
  • Traditional and contemporary musical instruments
  • Traditional dances
  • Traditional ethnic music.
Ghana Museums and Monuments Board (GMMB) || All Rights Reserved.