Techiman is the capital of Bono, Ghana's earliest state. It is also the site of Ghana's largest agricultural market. Today, Techiman is a cosmopolitan community comprised of peoples from all over West Africa. Here, “culture” is perceived as Bono heritage and Bono chiefs serve as its custodians.

Roughly ten years ago the Traditional Council of Chiefs of Techiman launched an initiative to create a cultural center to celebrate Bono heritage. It has been a fraught but productive process. The project has evolved to include the multiple heritages of Techiman's diverse population and to engage members of the community in the planning process. Recent collaborative efforts involving community leaders working with scholars and students from several Ghanaian and Michigan universities have established “heritage dialogues” that encourage the citizens of the town to think about the cultures of Techiman–where are these diverse traditions located and how might they be presented and shared in a new institution that offers a physical place and a social space for the performance and preservation of culture?

The project has profound implications for establishing and sustaining a social and political identity for Techiman, as well as for its constituent communities. The process of creating the cultural center is fostering democratic practice and strengthening civil society in Techiman. This paper explores the dynamics of this collaborative “culturework,” focusing primarily on how engaging a community in thinking about its heritage(s) can serve as a catalyst for social and political change.