Semester of Graduation

Summer 2026

Degree

Master of Arts (MA)

Department

Art History

Document Type

Thesis

Abstract

This thesis examines woodcarving in Ghana as a living tradition that preserves cultural memory, history, belief, and identity. It highlights Osei Bonsu, the most influential Asante carver of the twentieth century and chief carver to three Asantehene, along with Nana Yaw Frimpong Boadu and James Acheampong, whose work sustains and transforms the tradition in Asante and beyond.  The study goes beyond colonial-era views of African art as collective and anonymous by focusing on the carvers’ biographies, training, and choices.  It contends that woodcarving is both an art form and an archive. The research combines archival sources, museum and site visits, oral-history interviews, and detailed visual analysis of carved stools, drums, and figures. It is arranged both chronologically and thematically to illustrate how these artists preserve cultural continuity through colonial, postcolonial, and modern periods.  Chapter One traces Bonsu’s career at the intersection of Asante tradition and colonial change, including his role in restoring the Golden Stool and his teaching at Achimota School.  Chapter Two explores Asante stools as symbols of power and vessels for spirit (sunsum), showing how their form influenced Ghana’s Presidential Seat in the 1960s.  It also highlights Frimpong Boadu’s carvings, which incorporate Adinkra symbols to convey values like trust and friendship to contemporary audiences. Chapter Three centers on Acheampong, whose drum ensembles, such as the Sika Fontomfrom at the National Theatre, connect village carving traditions with national cultural institutions and use motifs like the Sankofa bird to link progress with ancestral wisdom. The study also addresses a significant gap in scholarship and public recognition. Carved objects are widely displayed, yet the carvers often remain unnamed and underexplored. By shifting focus from the objects alone to the hands and minds behind them, the thesis presents master carvers as custodians of cultural memory and as historians in their own right. Through their skill, teaching, workshop practice, and dedication, woodcarving in Ghana continues to be an essential and adaptable tradition that shapes how authority, spirituality, and identity are conceived and experienced today.

Date

4-21-2026

Committee Chair

Darius A, Spieth

LSU Acknowledgement

1

LSU Accessibility Acknowledgment

1

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