VISUAL AND RITUAL COMMUNICATION IN ASANTE FUNERARY TRADITIONS: CHROMATIC COSMOLOGIES, EMOTION, HISTORY AND CULTURAL IDENTITY
This paper examines the chromatic expressions that animated the royal funerals of two successive Asantehemaas: Nana Afia Kobi Serwaa Ampem II (2017) and Nana Konadu Yiadom III (2025). Drawing on extended ethnographic fieldwork and participant observation, the study analyzes how colour operates as a semiotic system encoding grief, hierarchy, and cultural identity within Asante cosmology. The research reveals that dominantly black and red fabrics—kuntunkuni (dark brown/black), birisi (blueblack), and kobene (red)—functioned not merely as decorative elements but as active components of what we term "chromatic cosmologies": structured yet flexible grammar systems through which Asanteman articulates mourning, authority, and cultural sovereignty. Through systematic comparison of the two funerals, this study demonstrates both continuity in chromatic codes and their adaptive capacity for global mediation. The analysis contributes to African semiotics by positioning colour as constitutive rather than supplementary to ritual meaning, while advancing theoretical frameworks that integrate Peircean semiotics with Mudimbe's insights on African epistemic systems.
Keywords: Asante, chromatic cosmologies, funerary traditions, colour symbolism, semiotics, cultural identity, Ghana, ritual performance