Formerly Bassline Jazz Club, +233 (named after the Ghanaian dialling code) is an intelligently designed club that has live bands six days a week. Inside, there are two floors. The band play on a small stage downstairs, but can also be seen from the U-shaped upstairs. There’s ample seating outside too, which looks onto a glass wall behind which the band play. And external speakers mean its almost as loud outside as in. Each section has its own bar with attentive servers. The food – burgers, hotdogs, chicken, chips, kebabs and pork chops – is mostly off the grill. The music varies between highlife, blues, jazz (although rarely hip hop) and anything else good. There’s only an entrance charge (usually GH¢10) when the band merits it. It’s a hugely popular venue, and rightly so. Probably the best place in Accra to see live music at the moment.
This week in Accra – our top 10 events
The weekend starts on Wednesday in Accra… Check out our pick of the best clubs, shows and events
Reggae DJs play on Wednesday night near an open bar that is stocked with local and imported beers. There are occasional live bands, as well as acrobats and other entertainment. The groups come from around Accra as well as from neighbouring countries. The standard is very high and you’ll likely catch something that gets you moving. It draws a mix of international students, reggae lovers, rastafarians and the less pious ‘rental dreads’ looking to hook up with a foreigner or at least sell some Rasta-styled wares. A worthwhile trip if you are in town.
Ghanaian music is blowing up on the international stage. Some of the country's best-loved artists are now making waves far beyond West African shores. The country's trademark genre is highlife, which has its roots in pre-colonial times, but hiplife, an energetic hybrid of highlife, dancehall and hip hop, is a new pretender to the throne. Music is the lifeblood of Accra - no trip to the capital would be quite complete without a trip to one of these swinging live music venues.
Located in the hip, creative, and entrepreneurial enclave around Osu Ako Adjei Park is an oldcolonial-style building that is seeing a rather flamboyant new lease on life in the form of Little Havana: Ghana and West Africa’s first Afro-Latino inspired street-food style restaurant and bar. By maintaining the building’s original wooden shutters and art deco detailing, and adding decadent chandeliers, charming vintage furniture, and vibrant eclectic décor, Little Havana’s founder and designer Marcus Morgan-Etty (of Santoku, The View, and Burger & Relish fame) has evoked the extravagant days of the Cuban capital’s pre-revolution era. Together with its mouth-watering menu, this exciting new spot offers upbeat Afro-Cuban and Latino music, carefully crafted premium rum cocktails, and energetic service, all of which adds up to a fresh and honest alternative to Accra’s swanky high-end social scene. Looking strikingly similar to Jon Favreau’s lead character in the 2014 movie “Chef” as he bustles about the kitchen making a Cuban sandwich, Marcus enthusiastically explains, “Latino food is bursting with flavour and fresh ingredients, and has very strong crossovers with Ghanaian dishes. In designing the Little Havana menu I’ve taken inspiration from classic Cuban and Latino recipes and ingredients, but sourced everything from local producers here in Ghana.” The result of this Afro-Latino connection is unique, but comforting soul food. Everything is gourmetquality , but served in a casual st
Firefly is a confident nightspot – the industrial chic of its whitewashed brickwork, dim lighting and edgy beats attracts a preened international clientele. A backlit bar glows with premium blends, with cocktail aficionados, spirit lovers and wine drinkers alike pull up stools to confer with chatty staff who sport braces and the odd jauntily angled hat.
The hugely respected Ghanaian artist Ablade Glover established this renowned arts venue, which has become one of the most important of its kind in Ghana. There are three expansive floors of art displayed in cool marble galleries. Some are by established artists, such as Owusu Ankomah and George Hughes, whose paintings are reminiscent of Jean Michel Basquiat and Willem De Kooning, while others are by new and upcoming artists like Ebenezer Borlabie. Market, rural and urban scenes are interspersed with political satires – and naturally, there are also the shrouded figures and staccatoed crowd scenes by Glover himself. There are collectors’ pieces too: Asafo flags with appliquéd and embroidered symbols; ancient strip-woven Kente cloths by the Akan and Ewe; African masks of the type that inspired Picasso; and intricately carved furniture. Also on show are full-sized coffins in the shapes of crabs, running shoes and eagles. Everything is for sale. There’s a lovely pool out the back.
Along the seafront near Black Star Square is the Arts Centre. Hawkers attack from all sides as soon as you arrive, but if you’re not exhausted by the scrum you can find carvings, baskets, drums, bags, beads, fabrics, sandals, sculptures, stools, rugs and occasionally antiques. It’s a place to unearth some incredible finds and gifts. The best bet is to head past the hassle which you’ll inevitably encounter at the entrance and make your way towards the back of the complex, where it’s a bit more relaxed. Haggling is expected. There’s also an art gallery, which sells prints and paintings at reasonable prices.
Loom’s Frances Ademola has a popular gallery that exhibits paintings and sculptures by a good selection of Ghana’s foremost artists, with a smattering of expressive Nigerian pieces. The modest space has been here since 1969, and is bursting at the seams with the work of nearly 100 artists. If Ademola is around, she’s delightful company, chatting exuberantly about artists such as Seth and Serge Clottey and Gabriel Eklou, and happily offering her great knowledge of the Ghanaian art scene, past and present. Loom is regarded as one of Ghana’s premier galleries.
This is one of the original workshops of the famous fantasy coffins that are now collected and exhibited as contemporary art all over the world. Caskets shaped as birds, fish, aeroplanes, shoes, beer bottles, cars and anything else that stretches the imagination are displayed, and sometimes sold as miniatures. More good examples of coffin art can also be seen at the Artists Alliance Gallery.
Friday 15th November – until Monday 11th December Exhibition Hall, Alliance Francaise Accra Eric Adjetey Anang is dedicated to develop the art initiated by his grandfather Seth Kane Kwei in the 50s. Recognized in Ghana as a coffin maker, he is renowned abroad as an artist and a designer. He is regularly invited to present his work at international events, works with Western designers and is involved in educational projects. There's nothing like a colourful send-off... The tradition of crafting elaborate, vibrant caskets for the dearly departed is a relatively new one - hence the playful, sometimes postmodern aspects to the work of coffin-maker par excellence Paa Joe (whose inflatable Disney-consumerist coffin sculpture, recently on display in the UK, could give Jeff Koons a run for his money on the international art scene). The 'fantasy' coffin making trade emerged in the Teshie suburb of Accra in the '50s, around the time of independence. It was pioneered by Seth Kane Kwei, who took commissions from grieving family members and ran with them. Kwei died in 1992 but bequeathed a new, iconic style to African contemporary art. The Kane Kwei Carpentery Workshop - along with a number of other designer-coffin producers in Ghana - is as busy as ever today, and Time Out was allowed a peek under the lid...
Time Out: Your use of pesewa coins has become your artistic calling card of sorts. Were there any other materials that came as a close second? Yaw Owusu: At the beginning I mostly painted, but I have always been interested in the processes of transformation, and as such, started experimenting with reactions between other materials like aluminum and steel. T O: The treatment the coins undergo to change colour is complex. Was it a period of trial and error to achieve your desired result, or did you sincerely have to learn some chemistry? Y.O: My encounter with these treatment outcomes was initially by chance – when some coins had contact with seawater during a project at the beach in Cape Coast. However, my little senior high school background in chemistry contributed enormously to the freedom to experiment with several elements and conditions, and I must admit I had no specific idea of what the reactions and activities could yield; I still don’t try to guess what might happen (even though some might be easily predictable). T O: How has Accra changed since you were a boy? Y.O: I grew up mostly in Kumasi as a kid, but I had the opportunity to see most of the other parts of the country. Accra, as the capital, always demonstrated the greatest change each time I revisited, due to the fact that most developmental projects and businesses’ head offices were centralised there. T O: To survive in Accra, one has to be somewhat savvy and entrepreneurial. What creative ideas have you see
ANO is an arts institution based in Accra. Ghana. It was founded in 2002 by Ghanaian art historian, writer and filmmaker Nana Oforiatta-Ayim, as a cultural research platform. Since then it has been involved in numerous collaborations, publications, films, exhibitions and events nationally and internationally, with artists such as Ibrahim Mahama, Zohra Opoku, and Serge Attukwei Clottey; institutions like LACMA, Los Angeles; KNUST, Kumasi; The Tate Modern, London and AccradotAlt, Accra. ANO is opening a new permanent space in Accra in March 2017, which will include an exhibition and screening space, as well as workshop and library areas.
L'arte is located in the heart of 'Bubuashie' community in Accra. This densely populated neighbourhood was chosen to allow clients and tourists the opportunity to 'enjoy the feel of the community'. L'arte provides dining entertainment.
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