{"id":113260,"date":"2026-01-30T04:41:00","date_gmt":"2026-01-30T04:41:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/?p=113260"},"modified":"2026-01-30T04:41:00","modified_gmt":"2026-01-30T04:41:00","slug":"decolonising-heritage-ghanaian-creatives-lead-international-project-in-lecce-italy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/?p=113260","title":{"rendered":"Decolonising Heritage: Ghanaian creatives lead international project in Lecce, Italy"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\u201cUntil the lion tells its story, the hunter is always the hero,\u201d an African proverb states. <\/p>\n

Guided by this principle, a groundbreaking international collaboration between Ramdom, Museo Castromediano, and Artlife Matters brought Ghanaian artists and cultural practitioners to Lecce, Italy, for a powerful programme dedicated to decolonising heritage and liberating the imagination.<\/p>\n

Artists, community members, and cultural experts participated in workshops, an exhibition, a conference, and a public parade to explore how tangible and intangible heritage can serve as tools for reclaiming narratives historically shaped by colonial structures.<\/p>\n

Reframing Identity Through Art<\/strong><\/p>\n

The programme invited participants and the wider public to reflect on the cultural and political urgency of decolonising the gaze. <\/p>\n

The legacies of colonialism\u2014intensified by global capitalism\u2014continue to shape hierarchical visual and cultural environments that influence individual and collective identities. <\/p>\n

These impacts are felt most strongly among migrant and diasporic communities, whose cultural heritages remain at risk of being erased or reframed through external narratives.<\/p>\n

Through performative, communal, and participatory art forms, the project created new spaces for expression, care, and self-representation.<\/p>\n

A Totem of Memory and Ancestry<\/strong><\/p>\n

The exchange opened with the creation of a striking six-foot concrete totem representing memory, identity, and ancestral resonance. <\/p>\n

Produced in just two and a half days by Kwame Akoto-Bamfo and the Osramba team in Castrignano di Greci (LE), the artwork symbolises the bridge between past and present, and between the lands people come from and where they find themselves today.<\/p>\n

According to Eric Agyare, Founder of Artlife Matters and curatorial lead, decolonising heritage from an African perspective \u201cdoes not mean rejecting the West, but re-centring African perspectives and reclaiming the stories silenced by colonial systems.\u201d<\/p>\n

Artist and cultural historian Kwame Akoto-Bamfo added, \u201cTrue spirituality begins with honesty.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cEchoes of Home\u201d \u2014 A Participatory Healing Process<\/strong><\/p>\n

The workshop \u201cEchoes of Home\u201d brought together foreign residents in Lecce, guiding them through a reflective, healing process to reaffirm peace and happiness despite personal challenges. <\/p>\n

Together with the Ghanaian artistic collective, participants developed an unconventional parade that combed through Museo Castromediano with life, colour, and positive energy.<\/p>\n

Luigi Di Luca, Director of Museo Castromediano, emphasised the museum\u2019s commitment to redefining its role within the community and expanding opportunities for international collaboration.<\/p>\n

Project Partners<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cDecolonising the Heritage \u2013 Practices for a Liberation of the Imaginary\u201d is a project by Ramdom, in collaboration with Museo Castromediano \u2013 Lecce, ICOM Puglia, Artlife Matters, and the Istituto Culture Mediterranee. <\/p>\n

The project is promoted by the Regional Council of Puglia within the ACA \u2013 Open Council Notice 2025<\/em>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\"DecolonisingGuided by this principle, a groundbreaking international collaboration between Ramdom, Museo Castromediano, and Artlife Matters brought Ghanaian artists and cultural practitioners to Lecce, Italy, for a powerful programme dedicated to decolonising heritage and liberating the imagination.<\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":{"facebook_2277560469115098_106292521332774":"","twitter_aToxNzczMzI3Njk4OTg4ODUxMjAxOw==_1773327698988851200":""},"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[16158,213,1377,10,9,2412],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-113260","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-lecce","category-movies","category-music","category-politics","category-popular","category-theatre"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/113260","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=113260"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/113260\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=113260"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=113260"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=113260"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}