A new article published by group member Andrea-Vicky Amankwaa-Birago on  arthistoricum.net

The following essayistic synthesis takes two portraits of Ashanti Prince 
Kwasi Boachi (1827–1904) as an opportunity to explore the life and work 
of this Black nobleman. The focus is particularly on Boachi’s 
contributions to migrant history, which are recognized here as part of a 
“royal narrative.” From his privileged social position, he not only 
contributes to the representation of the Asante Kingdom within Europe in 
various ways but also presents his experiences and views, such as on the 
subject of the slave trade. Through his writings and activities, it 
becomes evident how the legacy of the Asante Kingdom is reflected upon 
and honored in a European context, thus creating a bridge between 
African and European memory cultures. In this way, Boachi can be 
considered a central figure in memory culture and the Black German 
Archives. By following Boachi’s work, this study can also exemplify the 
possibility of transcontinental memory work, promoting approaches that 
view historical events from multiple perspectives and in terms of their 
interconnections and interactions across different regions of the world. 
This text is therefore aimed at both an art-historical and 
memory-culture-interested audience, including those actively engaged 
with issues of memory culture activism and identity politics.

The image above features a graphic recording visualizing key sites, sources, and contexts in the historical reconstruction of the life of Ashanti prince Kwasi Boachi. On the right side, the image captures the broad archival landscape: municipal and state archives, palace archive, libraries, museums, and collections in which Boachi’s legacy is preserved. These include written correspondence, personal objects like the so-called Boachi cup, and heraldic material such as his personal coat of arms on a was seal. This archival web reflects the complexity and interdisciplinarity required in researching Black lives in European history. The left side of the image traces Boachi’s historical route from the Gold Coast to the Netherlands, to Germany, back to the Netherlands and then to Indonesia, against the backdrop of the political agreement between the Ashanti king and the Dutch crown. The Sankofa symbol gestures toward a return—not in the literal sense, since Boachi never returned to Ghana—but as a metaphor for memory, reclamation, and diasporic connection. At the center stands the iconic 1849 portrait of Boachi by Carl Christian Vogel von Vogelstein—a visual anchor that embodies both European modes of representation and Boachi’s own dignity, presence, and complexity. The recording invites reflection on representation, colonial desire, identity, and remembrance—on a life lived between worlds, and on the many traces it left behind.

The author, Andrea-Vicky Amankwaa-Birago (M.A.), undertook this diasporic ancestral research journey between March and June 2023 and again between September and December 2023, traveling multiple times between Germany, Ghana, and the Netherlands. The graphic recording is based on an entry from her audio research diary, which accompanied her throughout the journey. In close collaboration with illustrator Soufeina Hamed, with whom she remained in continuous dialogue, these visual notes were developed to capture key research moments in a visually accessible format.

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