Fatimatu Hajia Ibrahim, Christopher Effah Oppong, Dennis Atsu Dake & Alex Kwasi Azaglo (2026)

The needlepoint technique, a decorative textile art traditionally used in upholstery and surface design, remains underexplored within Ghana’s tertiary textile education despite its potential for artistic innovation and cultural preservation. Similarly, the Bamaya dance of the Dagomba people, renowned for its symbolic costumes, rhythmic movements, and historical depth, has received limited scholarly attention as a source of design inspiration. This study bridges these gaps by employing the needlepoint technique to reinterpret the aesthetic and symbolic features of the Bamaya dance into a contemporary textile-based interior décor piece. Adopting a qualitative, practice-led methodology, the research integrated studio experimentation, iterative reflection, and design refinement. Selected Bamaya motifs, colour schemes, and movement patterns were analysed and translated into needlepoint compositions using computer-aided design (CAD) software for pixelation, colour mapping, and stitch planning. Production processes included canvas preparation, sequential stitching, background filling, motif outlining, and finishing. The resulting wall hanging demonstrated that needlepoint, enhanced by digital tools, can effectively convey the movement, symbolism, and visual rhythm of the Bamaya dance. The work proved aesthetically appealing, durable, and contextually appropriate for interior branding, particularly in educational or cultural settings. The findings underscore the potential of integrating indigenous cultural expressions with contemporary textile practices to enrich creative pedagogy, promote skill diversification, and support the revitalization of Ghanaian traditional arts. The paper recommends that the integration of traditional cultural expression with modern textile methods provides a valuable pedagogical model for future textile design education, encouraging culturally responsive creativity and innovation.

Tayo Simeon Arinde, Oludolapo Ojediran, Oluwatimileyin Omoniyi & Abolade Olawale Fakayode  (2026)

African playwrights, relishing on the creative and artistic embellishments in their writings, have used creative ingenuity to present the cultural ethos of Yoruba people to the global world, especially those who are alien to cultural cosmology of the Yoruba people. In the same direction, play directors have also used the tools to bring to the fore of theatre audiences; entertainment, education and enlightenment. In this direction, the creative adventure of Ahmed Yerima, which captures some of these cultural mainframes are identified in the selected play-texts, Kutelu and Ikudeti (2020). This is with a view to showcasing the cultural ethos and the liminal dramaturgy of the Yoruba culture and their relevance to the existence of man in their terrestrial space. Arnold Berleant (2005) theory of cultural aesthetics is used in the paper to explicate the Yoruba ethos and liminal dramaturgy as exploited by Ahmed Yerima in the selected play-texts and how he has through the literary works construct the link that exists between reality and imagination of the cultural philosophy of the Yoruba people. The paper concludes that cultural ethos and liminal dramaturgy are tools that play directors can use to seamlessly articulate African dramatic expressions. Consequently, playwrights are encouraged to explore more cultural ethos and symbolic extractions to showcase African rich cultural heritage.

David Chapman Quayson, Divine Kwabena Atta Kyere-Owusu  & Sika Koomson  (2026)

Despite global advances in inclusive theatre, deaf individuals in Ghana remain largely excluded from the performing arts, a topic severely neglected in local scholarship. This qualitative study maps the barriers to deaf theatre in Cape Coast by engaging nineteen participants from the Cape Coast School for the Deaf and Blind, including students, staff, and hearing audience members. Grounded in the social model of disability and social inclusion theory, data from interviews and observations reveal five interconnected obstacles: financial constraints limiting resources and personnel; a lack of technical facilities and trained instructors proficient in deaf education and sign language; time pressures within school schedules; and deeply entrenched attitudinal barriers, where societal misconceptions frame deafness as an inability. Despite these challenges, the proactive formation of a student cultural troupe demonstrates resilience and a refusal to accept these barriers as fixed. This study makes significant contributions by addressing a critical gap in Ghanaian scholarship, which has prioritised education and health over cultural access. It provides the first empirically grounded analysis of its kind, operationalising the social model within the cultural realm and offering a diagnostic framework to guide intervention. The findings underscore an urgent need for dedicated funding, infrastructure investment, professional development, and advocacy to foster genuine inclusion.