Documenting the Living Heritage of Northern Ghana: An Account of Wiki Loves Folklore 2026 in Ghana, by the Ghanaian Educators Wikimedia Community

The northern regions of Ghana are home to some of the most vibrant cultural traditions you will find anywhere, from funeral ceremonies and chiefly coronations to ancient weaving practices and lively market days. But for a long time, very little of this was visible on Wikimedia Commons. Through Wiki Loves Folklore 2026, our community decided it was time to change that.

We did not get all the funding we applied for, but that did not stop us. We went ahead with the core plans and managed to achieve results we are genuinely proud of. One may want to know how we achieved that. We undertook a number of activities that helped us during the campaign.

Workshops and Editathons

We held three training sessions in total, one online and two face-to-face workshops. Between 20 and 40 people took part, some joining for the first time and others who had contributed to Wikimedia before. The online session was useful for reaching people who could not travel, while the in-person workshops gave everyone a chance to actually sit down and do the work together by uploading photos to Wikimedia Commons and adding information to Wikidata about the places and cultural subjects we were documenting.

What stood out most was how much more people learned by doing rather than just listening. And for the newcomers especially, seeing their very first contributions appear live on Wikimedia was a moment that genuinely excited them and kept them engaged. One thing we will always do from now on is come to every session with ready-made examples and practice exercises. Walking people through the process slowly, particularly the parts about usage rights and how content is organised, makes a real difference.

Flyer for Launch of Wiki Loves Folklore 2026 in Ghana

Photowalk and Cultural Documentation

We took one photowalk through parts of the North-East and Northern regions of Ghana. The communities we visited gave us a warm welcome and allowed us to document a wide variety of cultural life, including funeral performances, traditional dances, weaving and craft work, food preparation, market scenes, the coronation of chiefs, different styles of dress, and everyday moments like fetching water from dams and wells.

More than 600 photos from the photowalk were uploaded to Wikimedia Commons, and across the whole project we uploaded over 2,400 images nationally. A good number of these cover cultural subjects that were barely visible or completely absent from the platform before. Communities also let us capture audio and video, which was a pleasant surprise and a sign of just how much people in these areas want their culture to be known and preserved.

None of this would have been easy without the relationships we built with people on the ground before we even arrived. That trust is what opened doors. Going forward, we will always make sure we have backup plans for locations in case something unexpected happens in a community, and we will never go into an area without a trusted local contact by our side.

A German friend as a sub chief in northern Ghana

Structured Tagging Campaign

After the uploads, we ran a tagging campaign using the ISA Tool to add descriptions and labels to the files so they are easier to find and more useful to people who might want to use them. Most participants were more focused on getting the photos uploaded than on the tagging side of things, which is understandable for a first experience. The few who did engage with the tool made a noticeable difference to how the files show up in searches. We are planning follow-up sessions to give this part of the work the attention it deserves

What We Learned

Before this project, there was almost nothing on Wikimedia Commons representing the folk cultural life of the North-East and Savannah regions. We covered multiple cultural subjects that had no open-access visual record anywher, not just on Wikimedia. Over 2,400 images now exist where almost none did before. Honestly, the gap was even bigger than we expected, and that only strengthened our belief that this work needs to continue.

We also came to understand that getting files uploaded is really just the beginning. What makes those files useful in the long run is the work that comes after, and that includes adding proper descriptions, organising them into the right categories, and tagging them so people can actually find them. That is something we will build into our plans from the start in future projects.

Between five and ten new volunteers from these regions are now actively involved in Wikimedia. That may sound modest, but in communities where Wikimedia was practically unheard of before, it is a real achievement. There are now Wikipedia Incubators for both Mampruli and Gonja, the main languages of the North-East and Savannah regions, though both still need more people and more skills development to really take off. What we learned is that getting people involved from underserved communities is not something that happens after one workshop. It takes time, it takes trust, and it takes ongoing support.

Naɣ’ biɛɣu dance in Beyom yili

Looking Ahead

We are not done. We plan to go back to the North-East and Savannah regions with more photowalks, better prepared and with contingency plans in place. We will spend more time on the post-upload work, tagging, Wikidata entries, and tracking how our files are actually being used. We will also put in place a proper support plan for the new volunteers we have brought in, so they can grow into confident, regular contributors. We want to build stronger ties with local cultural institutions and community leaders to make future documentation richer and more representative. And we will keep making the case for more Wikimedia projects in these regions, using what we have documented as evidence of how much still needs to be done.

Our Final Word

The cultures of northern Ghana have always deserved a place in the world’s shared knowledge. We are glad we could play a small part in making that happen. Our deepest thanks go to the Wikimedia Foundation, to every volunteer who gave their time, and most of all to the communities who trusted us with their stories and their heritage.

If you are doing similar work on indigenous languages or cultural documentation in underrepresented communities, we would be happy to connect and share what we know.