The Banda Cultural Centre provides space for community gatherings and guest rooms for Banda Research Project and other community visitors. The Centre's motto/logo is "Nyu nunu," (Nafaanra) or "Unity." Commissioned in 1995, the main building was constructed in 1994-95 through a combination of Banda Research Project funding and communal labor supplied by Ahenkro's four Unit Committees. The building is administered and maintained by the community. Ahenkro, July 1995.
This Asante-style "akonkromfi" chair belonged to Tolɛɛ Kofi Dwuru II who was the Paramount Chief of Banda from the time of his enstoolment in 1938 until his death in 1977. Kofi Dwuru purchased the chair in Kumasi during the 1930s. The chair's back rest and legs are studded with brass tacks. A leather cushion rests on the seat of the chair. For additional details, see Bravmann, René A. (1974) "Islam and Tribal Art in West Africa" (Cambridge University Press), pp. 89. Ahenkro, 25 November, 1967.
The paved interior courtyard of the Banda Cultural Centre is surrounded by roofed verandas on three sides and a suite of rooms along its east side. The Banda Cultural Centre provides space for community events and guest rooms for Banda Research Project and other community visitors. Visible along the porch in front of the guest rooms are headpans used by the Banda Research Project for archaeological excavation, tipped over to dry. A tree seedling, center courtyard, is surrounded by a fence to protect it from goats. Ahenkro, July 1995.
Female elders are seated under a thatch awning outside the Banda Cultural Centre on the day of its commissioning, Ann B. Stahl (seated center) has just been enstooled as an honorary Queen Mother of the Banda Traditional Council under the stool name Yadwo Gongo II. To the left is Binghamton University graduate student Alex Caton (Peni Yaa) and seated to the right wearing white cloth is Afua Wewa, one of the Banda Queen Mother's elders. A young man holds an umbrella over the Banda Queen Mother, Lelɛɛ Akosua Kepefu, who sits behind Alex Caton. Ahenkro, 21 July, 1995.
Rights:
Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial
Publisher:
University of Victoria Libraries
Location(s) Facet:
Ahenkro
Subjects:
Queen Mother; Banda Cultural Centre; Enstoolment; Banda Traditional Council
A Brong dance troupe performs at the commissioning celebration for the Banda Cultural Centre. A group of drummers is seated behind the dancers. Visible in the background is the logo of the Banda Cultural Centre which is "Nyu nunu," (Nafaanra) or "Unity." This is symbolized by an Adinkra symbol showing two crocodiles who share a common stomach (two heads, two tails, one stomach; referred to as funtumfunafu in Twi). The symbol conveys the meaning "why fight over food when you share a stomach?" The Cultural Centre's main building pictured here was constructed in 1994-95 through a combination of Banda Research Project funding and communal labor supplied by Ahenkro's four Unit Committees. Ahenkro, 21 July 1995.
Banda Research Project team members wearing blue shirts with the "Unity" logo and dresses embroidered in blue process down Ahenkro's main street from the Paramount Chief's palace to the Banda Cultural Centre for the centre's commissioning ceremony. Ann B. Stahl-- just enstooled as an honorary Queen Mother by the Banda Traditional Council under the stool name Lelɛɛ Yadwo Gongo II--is carried in a palanquin lined with kente cloth and shaded by one of the chief's royal umbrellas. A woman in local-made strip woven cloth stands left, with Binghamton University MA student Alex Caton wearing local dress to her right. To her right in blue-embroidered dresses are project team members Doris Millah and Doris Mensah. Visible in the background are the thatched and iron roofs of houses lining Banda-Ahenrko's main street. Ahenkro, 21 July, 1995.
Rights:
Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial
Publisher:
University of Victoria Libraries
Location(s) Facet:
Ahenkro
Subjects:
Queen Mother; Banda Cultural Centre; Umbrella; Palanquin; Banda Research Project
Subjects Facet:
Rites and ceremonies; West African strip weaving; Thatched roofs; Metal roofing; Textiles; Clothing; Kente cloth; Litters (vehicles); Royal regalia
Several young men gather outside of Kafͻnͻ (Kafono) Katoo under the shade of a small thatched shelter. They are looking at a binder of photos that includes pictures of their family house taken in 1986 when its roof was being re-thatched. At that time the house was decorated with a painting of a bicycle, reputed to be the first bicycle in Banda. Ahenkro, 1 September, 2018.
Ann B. Stahl (left) and Sampson Attah (right) stand in front of the Banda Cultural Centre shortly before the building was commissioned (21 July, 1995). The Banda Cultural Centre provides space for community events and guest rooms for Banda Research Project and other community visitors. The Centre's motto/logo is "Nyu nunu," (Nafaanra) or "Unity." This is symbolized by an Adinkra symbol showing two crocodiles who share a common stomach (two heads, two tails, one stomach; referred to as funtumfunafu in Twi). The symbol conveys the meaning "why fight over food when you share a stomach?" The Cultural Centre's main building pictured here was constructed in 1994-95 through a combination of Banda Research Project funding and communal labor supplied by Ahenkro's four Unit Committees. The building is administered and maintained by the community. Ahenkro, July 1995.
The glass beads considered sacred and used in the puberty (Manaa Ndiom) and marriage (Bijam) rites of Nafana women are stored within a calabash bowl, its lid lying next to it. Most of the beads are imported varieties typical of those that circulated in the Atlantic trade period. On top of two other lidded calabash bowls rests a pair of iron manacles or shackles which are included among ritual paraphernalia. Ahenkro, July 1995.
Local and visiting members of the Banda Research Project Team gathered on the day of the Banda Cultural Centre's dedication event. Their shirts are printed with the Cultural Centre's motto/logo "Nyu Nunu," (Nafaanra) or "Unity." Ahenkro, 21 July, 1995.
Rights:
Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial
Publisher:
University of Victoria Libraries
Location(s) Facet:
Ahenkro
Subjects:
Community event; Banda Cultural Centre; Banda Research Project