Sirigu

Sirigu is a Kassena-Nankana village where the outer and inner walls of the round mud compound houses are painted by women in geometric bands and figures using earth pigments, black from a local mineral, red and white from clays, applied in patterns that have names and are renewed after each rainy season. The tradition is domestic rather than commercial in origin, and it is maintained through SWOPA, the Sirigu Women's Organisation of Pottery and Art, founded in 1997, which runs a centre with a guesthouse, a workshop and guided visits to painted compounds in the village. Pottery is the other craft, hand-built and fired in open pits. Visitors can try both.

What you actually see

• Painted compounds - the geometric wall painting on family houses.
• The pigments - the earth colours and how they are prepared.
• Pottery making - hand-building and open-pit firing.
• The SWOPA centre - the workshop, gallery and guesthouse.

When to go

November to March in the dry season, which is also when the paintings are at their freshest after the post-rains renewal. Mornings are cooler. The Harmattan haze is heaviest in December and January.

Honest expectations

Compounds are private homes and visits are arranged and paid for through the association, not by wandering in. Paintwork fades and needs the annual renewal, so condition varies. Facilities are basic. The Upper East is a long journey from the south.

Nearby

Bolgatanga lies southeast; Paga is north at the border.