Homowo '2001 - Asafotufiam-Nmaayem Festival
MPEG-4 Colour Sound 2001 204:00
Summary: A record of a combined Homowo, Asafotufiam and Ngmayem festival celebration held in Tooting, London, in 2001. Organised by Nikasemo Asafo, one of the oldest GaDangme cultural organisations in the diaspora, the film captures traditional processions, libations, kpokpoi sprinkling, dancing and communal feasting, documenting how Ga and Dangme communities maintained their cultural heritage in Britain.
Title number: 23276
LSA ID: LSA/30631
Description: This film documents a combined celebration of the Homowo, Asafotufiam and Ngmayem festivals held by the GaDangme community in the UK. The celebration was held in Tooting, London, in 2001. The event brought together Ga and Dangme people from across the diaspora, alongside a number of non-GaDangme participants, the event reflects the continuing importance of cultural traditions, language and community life among GaDangme people living in Britain. Organised by Nikasemo Asafo, one of the oldest continuously operating organisations dedicated to the preservation of GaDangme language and culture in the diaspora, the celebration combines three of the most significant festivals observed by the Ga and Dangme peoples. The film follows the day's activities as community members gather for processions, prayers, libations, dancing and cultural performances. A central feature of the recording is the Homowo ceremony, including the sprinkling of kpokpoi, the ceremonial food prepared specifically for the festival. This important ritual, performed alongside prayers and libations, is followed by communal feasting and social celebration. Traditional music and dancing continue throughout the event, creating an atmosphere of joy, remembrance and shared identity. The film captures both formal ceremonial activities and informal moments of interaction between families, friends and community members. Filmed without narration, interviews or subtitles, the recording offers an uninterrupted view of community life and cultural practice as it unfolds. Originally produced as a commemorative video for attendees to purchase and remember the occasion, it has since become an important historical record of GaDangme cultural life in London at the beginning of the twenty-first century. As a document of one of the diaspora's longest-standing cultural preservation organisations, the film provides valuable evidence of how Ga and Dangme traditions, languages and festivals have been maintained and celebrated beyond Ghana, while continuing to bring communities together across generations and backgrounds.
Credits: Botchway, Solo (Camera operator); Nettey, Emmanuel
Further information: This event took place during a period of growing consolidation of West African diaspora organisations in the UK, where cultural associations increasingly became key spaces for identity preservation, social support and intergenerational teaching. In the early 2000s, many second-generation Ga and Dangme Britons were navigating questions of language loss and cultural continuity, making festivals like this important sites of informal education as well as celebration. The combination of Homowo, Asafotufiam and Ngmayem reflects a practical adaptation within the diaspora context, where multiple seasonal festivals from Ghana are brought together into a single annual gathering due to time, resources and community coordination in the UK. This fusion is not traditional in the strict sense, but represents how cultural practice evolves in migration while maintaining symbolic meaning. Tooting, South London, has long been one of the key settlement areas for Ghanaian and wider African diaspora communities in the UK, making it a natural hub for large-scale cultural events of this kind. The use of community halls and shared public spaces reflects both the resourcefulness of diaspora organising and the absence of dedicated cultural infrastructure at the time. Nikasemo Asafo’s role is significant in this context, as organisations like it often functioned not only as cultural preservation groups but also as informal welfare networks, supporting members with integration, mutual aid and maintaining links to homeland traditions. At this time, recording and distribution of community events on VHS and later DVD was a key method of cultural archiving within diaspora communities, with many events produced specifically for internal circulation rather than public broadcast. As such, this film sits within a broader practice of self-documentation that has become an important source for understanding African diaspora cultural history in the UK.
In galleries: Undocumented
Locations: Graveney School, Welham Road, Tooting, London
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