National Museum of Ghana

  Ghana

• Accra: 
Accra

Durations of Program: 5-8 weeks, 3-6 months and 7-12 months
Typical Duration of Program: 5-8 weeks
Dates: You can volunteer at any time throughout the year.

Description: The National Museum in Accra is the largest and oldest of six public museums in Ghana. Opened on 5th March 1957 by the late Princess Marina, Duchess of Kent, this museum is home to a wide array of exhibits such as indigenous Ghanaian musical instruments, gold-weights, beads, traditional textiles, stools, pottery and ancient masks and beads from all over Africa.

The exhibits housed under the two-tiered rotunda of the museum comprise much more than Ghanaian Culture alone, and include a collection from neighboring West African countries as well. The museum exhibits items from other parts of West Africa such as the popular Senfu masks from Cote d'Ivoire and the ancient Ife bronze heads from Nigeria. Also on display are numerous artifacts from East and Southern Africa, a particular highlight for most visitors being the wooden figures and bead-ware of the widely-known Zulu tribe.

One of the museum's ground-floor wings is devoted to temporary exhibitions which can range from contemporary dyed fabrics to traditional and sacred artifacts such as the celebrated Ashanti ancestor stools. Other interesting exhibits in the ground-floor rooms include richly decorated Ashanti gold-weighted scales adorned with finely-rendered symbolic images illustrative of traditional proverbs.

The walls of these exhibition halls are lined with samples of traditional Ghanaian garments known as Kente, each of whose symbolic woven designs has its own rich meaning. Certain designs of kente are reserved for royalty and top dignitaries and cannot be purchased by the general public.

Objects of archaeology, ethnography as well as fine art find their place in the National Museum building. Exhibits at the small but impressive art gallery consist mainly of sculptures and contemporary Ghanaian paintings executed in oil, pasted, acrylic, water colour and collages. Objects in the archaeology section range from the stone age period to the recent historical past.

The museum is open to the public from 9am until 5pm each day, and has a regular stream of visitors, mainly tourists seeking to discover Africa's cultural heritage. Temporary exhibitions are held not only by the National Museum but also by individuals and foreign embassies. Guided tours are provided and films on some aspects of Ghanaian culture are shown by the staff of the Education Section to further enlighten visitors.

Highlights: Available Positions

* Assistant Curator
A museum and exhibition assistant is needed to care for and maintain all exhibits at the National Museum to ensure longevity.

* Curator
The museum requires a cataloger to do an e-digitization of various exhibits in the museum and keep accurate records.

* Students
Students are more than welcome to come to the museum to help and gain experience working with museums & art galleries.

Cost in US$: USD 163 p/wk

Experience Required: no

This Program is open to Worldwide Participants.

Typically Participants Work Independently or in Groups

Application Process Involves:

• Letters of Reference
• Resume
• Written Application

Post-Program Services Include:

• Alumni Network

Ikando's Mission Statement: Ikando looks to support local community organisations through the placement of international volunteers. We seek to offer volunteers affordable, quality and skill specific placements with organisations that require their help. We believe our volunteers can be catalysts for change within these organisations. Ikando aims to communicate through its volunteers the positive story coming out of Africa.

Year Founded: 2004