“It is our generation’s responsibility to build upon the work of those who came before us by making our traditions, stories, and knowledge accessible, so they can be preserved and passed on to future generations.”
Explore Kumasi

For some of us, Kumasi is home. Some of us grew up in Ghanaian families abroad, speaking Twi, hearing family stories, and staying connected across countries.

Some grew up knowing pieces of our history and traditions but later realized how much we still wanted to understand. Others are learning because of family, travel, study, or a connection to Ghana.

Our stories begin in different places. Explore Kumasi brings those experiences together to document and explain Kumasi, Asante history, language, culture, and everyday life.

Why Explore Kumasi Exists

A lot of cultural knowledge is passed from person to person.

You may know that something is done because your parents or grandparents taught you.

You may recognize an Adinkra symbol without knowing its full meaning.

You may have heard a family story for years and later find a different version somewhere else.

Questions come with that.

• Why is this done?
• Where did this tradition come from?
• How does this system work?
• Is the story we heard supported by historical records?
• Are there other versions?

Explore Kumasi gives us a place to ask those questions and document what we learn.

Written sources matter too. Asantehene Agyeman Prempeh I left writings about Asante history, including accounts of rulers, wars, succession, customs, genealogies, and other parts of Asante life. Sources like these give us another way to examine what has been written and compare it with knowledge passed through families and communities.

We name our sources where we can. We also make room for differences in what has been passed down. When something is uncertain, disputed, or varies by place or family, we say so.

What You’ll Find Here

Explore Kumasi covers the history, culture, language, places, and everyday life connected to Kumasi and the wider Ashanti Region.

You can learn about Asante rulers and queen mothers, the Golden Stool, chieftaincy, clans and matrilineal family systems, Akwasidae, Adinkra symbols, kente, Twi, food, historic sites, neighborhoods, markets, and places to visit.

You will also find practical information for visiting Kumasi and the Ashanti Region. Knowing where to go is useful.

This Knowledge Belongs to Many Voices

Knowing the history and culture connected to a place can help you understand what you are seeing.

Explore Kumasi is a collective.

No single person or family holds every story about Asante culture and history. Knowledge can differ across families, towns, stools, generations, and experiences.

That is why we want to hear from those who were taught these histories and traditions, those who practice them, those who study them, and those working to reconnect with what previous generations knew.

If you learned something differently, have a source we should read, know a story connected to a place, or can add context to something we have published, we want to hear from you.

Passing It On

Our generation has access to family knowledge, oral histories, books, archives, photographs, digital records, and voices across Ghana and the diaspora.

We have an opportunity to document what we know, ask better questions about what we do not know, and make that information easier for the next generation to find and understand.

That is the work behind Explore Kumasi.

Understand the Culture.
Know the History.
Pass It On.