Akan Linguist StaffsThe Verbal-Visual Connection

Ghana is a very rich country known for its gold trading. For a long time they did not have written language so their oral tradition is very important

Akan Chief,Ghana,20th century

Ashanti CultureFor a long time there was not a written language so the oral tradition is very important and well developed

Kente Cloth is a famous type of cloth, The cloth displays Adinkra Symbols.Each symbol has a special meaning.

Remember Keith Haring? He worked with symbols too.Studying and using symbols is called SEMIOTICS.

Akan linguists, Ghana/Ivory Coast, 20th century

"No one goes to the house of the spider Ananse to teach him wisdom”. Akan Linguist staff, Ghana, wood and Gold leaf, 20th century.

"It is better not to have fired at all than to fire and only wound the leopard.”

“Paddling the boat on both sides makes it go straight”,Akan Linguist staff, Ghana, wood and Goldleaf, 20th cent.

“It is the rightful owner of the food who gets to eat it”,Akan linguist staff, Ghana, painted wood, 20th century.

“ Birds of the Same Species roost in the Same Tree”Wood & Goldleaf, 20th century

“one person does not rule a nation”Akan Linguist staff, Ghana, wood & Goldleaf20th century.

Leopard standing on another Leopard, GoldweightsAkan, Ghana/Ivory Coast, 17th-19th century

Goldweights with conventionalized Arabic and Roman charactersBrass with copper plugs, 15th-17th century,

Goldweights representing animals, Akan, Ghana/Ivory CoastBrass, 17th-19th century

Man carrying palmwine; man on horse back with a spear; woman with a bowl on her head and a child on her back—Goldweights,Akan, Ghana/Ivory Coast, brass, 17th-19th century

Man playing drums; man with a side blown trumpetGoldweights, Akan, Ghana/Ivory Coast, brass, 17-19th century

Geometric shapes, Goldweights, Akan, Ghana/Ivory CoastBrass, 17-19th century

Two persons on a stool; woman regarding herself in a mirror; man on a stoolHolding a parasol, Goldweights, Akan, Ghana/Ivory Coast, 17th century

Pangolin, Goldweight, Akan, Ghana/Ivory Coast, brass17th-19th century

Goldweights representing artifacts, Akan, Ghana/Ivory Coast, brass, 17th-19th century

Goldweights representing stools and game boards, Akan, Ghana/Ivory Coast17th-19th century