Krobo Odumase

Odumase and the surrounding Krobo towns are the heart of Ghanaian glass bead making, a craft that turns bottles and window glass into beads: the glass is broken and ground to powder, coloured, layered into clay moulds with a cassava stalk to form the hole, fired in a wood or clay kiln, then ground and polished. Powder-glass beads made this way have been produced in this area for generations and are traded across West Africa. Workshops in and around Odumase, Somanya and Cedi's Bead Industry at Odumase show the whole process and sell finished strings. Beads are central to Krobo life, particularly to Dipo, the girls' initiation rite held in spring, when they are worn in quantity.

History

The Basel Mission ran a school in Odumase Krobo by 1857, and the town became the capital of Manya Krobo when Emmanuel Mate Kole became Konor in 1892 (Wikipedia, Krobo Odumase).

What's there

• Bead workshops - grinding, moulding, firing and polishing shown in sequence.
• The kilns - the clay ovens where the moulds are fired.
• Finished beads - strings and pieces sold at the workshops.
• The Dipo context - the initiation rite the beads are made for.

When to go

November to March for the dry season. Workshops run on weekdays; weekends see less production. The Dipo rites fall mainly between March and May. The bead market at Koforidua on Thursdays is where the trade concentrates.

Good to know

Workshop visits end with sales and there is pressure to buy. Prices vary widely and are negotiated. Kiln areas are hot and smoky. Photography of Dipo ceremonies requires permission and is often unwelcome.

Nearby

Koforidua and its bead market lie northwest; the Adomi bridge is east.