Ask a Local: Artist Kwaku Yaro on Accra's Unmissable Restaurants, Galleries, and Beachside Hideouts

20.11.2024 - 23:03 / cntraveler.com / Conde Nast

Ask a Local is a series where we ask insiders to share their tips for the place they call home.

Kwaku Yaro creates mixed-media portraits using cleverly upcycled wax prints, the blue-and-red checkered polypropylene bags ubiquitous across Ghana, and other urban materials. Based in Accra, one of the best places to visit in Africa in 2024, the Ghanaian visual artist namechecks his favorite art markets, beaches, and Afrobeat bars in the hometown that inspires his work.

A version of this article originally appeared in Condé Nast Traveller UK.

Gallery 1957 inside the Kempinski Hotel was named after the year Ghana gained independence.

I’m a part of Artemartis, an African art collective with a studio here in Accra. I also go to Gallery 1957, which was named to commemorate the year Ghana gained its independence. It’s a really cool place inside the Kempinski Hotel, with sleek, earth-toned interiors exhibiting top Ghanaian talent, as well as some international names. I’m currently their artist in residence [the residency ended in January 2024]. My show, Look What We Have Seen, invited viewers to engage differently with discarded, everyday packaging materials.

ADA Contemporary Art Gallery graces its white walls with vibrant polychromatic displays from Ghanaian artists.

ADA Contemporary Art Gallery is also a lovely place to be. I enjoy exploring the polychromatic displays by Ghanaian artists. Also, don’t miss Villagio just around the corner. These colorful, high-rise luxury apartments are painted in red, green, and yellow based on the geometric patterns of traditional kente cloth. To learn more about Ghanaian art history, I go to the Nubuke Foundation, a futuristic-looking cultural center made up of modern cubic spaces. It was founded to support local artists and lays on a varied arts program.

Makola Market is the largest marketplace in Accra, a labyrinth of everything from mangoes to fish to handcrafted shea butter to batik fabrics.

For a real Ghanaian shopping experience, it has to be Makola Market. It's the biggest marketplace in Accra, a labyrinth of mainly female traders. You can find everything there, from mangoes and fish, to handcrafted shea butter, batik fabrics, and handmade jewelry. I’m passionate about minimizing environmental damage, so I collect waste materials from the stall owners and use it in my work. I also get materials from Accra Arts Center, an art market where you can find beautiful, traditional Ghanaian-made handicrafts like talking drums, bags, ebony wood carvings, and baskets woven from veta vera grass (elephant grass). For contemporary fashion with traditional twists I’ll go to Accra Mall or West Hills Mall.

Republic is a hip bar in central Osu where live Afropop can be heard at any