SANKOFA: A Decolonial Framework for Art Education and Curatorial Practice

Drawing education in Ghana remains shaped by Eurocentric conventions inherited from the colonial “Hand and Eye” curriculum, which privilege still life, portraiture, and linear perspective while marginalising Indigenous Knowledge Systems and African visual epistemologies. This Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL) inquiry investigates how the Akan philosophy of Sankofa can serve as a decolonial pedagogical framework for art education and curatorial practice. The study was conducted within the Independent Studies in Drawing course at the University of Education, Winneba, with 19 Level 300 Art Education students during the 2024/2025 academic year. Guided by the principle of returning to retrieve valuable knowledge for the future, students were encouraged to explore local histories, cultural symbols, indigenous materials, and their own artistic identities while defining their own terms of engagement. The study adopted a qualitative SoTL design, drawing on multiple data sources, including a curatorial journal, artist statements, exhibition catalogue entries, students’ artworks and installations, and visitor response notes from the exhibition Sankofa: The Strokes Return Home, which was subsequently exhibited in Germany. Data were analysed using thematic analysis following Braun and Clarke’s approach. Findings revealed three interconnected themes: reclaiming cultural identity, material sovereignty, and critical awareness of colonial influence. Students increasingly viewed indigenous knowledge as a legitimate source of artistic inquiry, drawing inspiration from Adinkra symbols, Oware boards, Kente patterns, calabashes, local histories, and indigenous narratives. Using materials such as calabash, maize sacks, stone slabs, plantain leaves, and sewing threads enabled students to exercise material agency and challenge conventional artistic hierarchies. Furthermore, students demonstrated greater confidence in their artistic voices and critically interrogated inherited Eurocentric assumptions about artistic excellence and creativity. The exhibition extended the learning process, giving students a platform to engage international audiences and position themselves as producers rather than consumers of knowledge. The study concludes that Sankofa is more than a cultural metaphor; it serves as a pedagogical framework, creative methodology, and curatorial strategy for decolonising art education. By repositioning students as creators, researchers, and custodians of knowledge rooted in African cultural experience, the framework offers a replicable model for integrating Indigenous Knowledge Systems into higher education curricula and advancing culturally responsive teaching and learning practices across Africa.

Keywords: Sankofa, Decolonial Pedagogy, Art Education, Indigenous Knowledge Systems, Curatorial Practice, Scholarship of Teaching and Learning and Cultural Identity.