Message from the Director

Established in 2017, the Centre for Research in Culture and Creative Arts (CeRCCA) is the research and innovation arm of the School of Creative Arts at the University of Education, Winneba (UEW), Ghana. The Centre connects scholars, artists, educators, creative professionals, public institutions and communities in the production and application of knowledge about culture and the creative arts.

Rooted in Ghanaian and African cultural experiences while engaging international scholarship, CeRCCA advances interdisciplinary and practice-based research, strengthens arts education, and promotes the documentation, preservation, critical interpretation and responsible commercialisation of cultural heritage. Our work brings indigenous knowledge systems into productive dialogue with contemporary creative practice, emerging technologies and sustainable development.

Our Intellectual Foundation

CeRCCA draws on the disciplinary strengths of the School of Creative Arts, including Music, Theatre, Art Education, Graphic Design, Textiles and Fashion, and Creative Arts Education. We approach artistic practice as a means of generating knowledge, alongside historical, educational, social and cultural inquiry. Our commitment to African-centred scholarship supports critical engagement with inherited frameworks of knowledge and the development of research approaches responsive to local contexts.

The Centre also supports postgraduate scholarship and cross-cultural exchange. Its Pan-African Arts and Culture Exchange (PAACE) initiative connects international volunteers, students and communities through creative learning, STEAM activities, indigenous crafts, folklore, music, dance and theatre, with reciprocal learning at its heart.

Patrique deGraft-Yankson, PhD
Associate Professor of Art and Design Education
Director, Centre for Research in Culture and Creative Arts (CeRCCA)