Artistic Evolutions of the Ga Mashie Twins Yam Festival and Its Cultural Implications

Abstract

The ethnographic study revealed the artistic evolutions and cultural implications of the celebration of the Twins Yam Festival which is a quintessential pre-celebration rite during the annual Homowo festival of the Ga ethnic race in Ghana. The festival encompasses the philosophical, psychological, religious and socio-economic activities of the Ga and unites the people. According to oral tradition, the Twins Yam festival was initially not observed as a cultural heritage of the people. The study therefore investigated how the Twin Yam festival came to be with the annual celebration of the Homowo festival and its importance in the cultural sustainability of this indigenous area. It furthermore discusses the roles of the various art forms which are actively involved in the rituals, making the celebration such a significant phenomenon. Participatory observation of the rites and well structured interviews were the main instruments used in divulging data from respondents. The study revealed that the twins festival religiously honours the spirits of the twins and imbues into them confidence to attain self fulfilment and psychological peace. In addition, during the celebration, services of the hospitality and culinary or gastronomy industries increase and financial gains do double. Copyright © www.iiste.org

Keywords: Ga Mashie, Twins, festival, priest, art and culture.