Bicycles in front of the mosque

Bicycles in front of the mosque, Kalpohin Senior High School, Tamale, 2024

Bicycles Forever – The Tamale Experience” is a research project about the rich history and cultural significance of bicycles in Ghana with a special focus on Tamale.

The exhibition is part of the project "Cycling Cities: The African Experience" which aims to explore and document the evolution of bicycle commuting in various African cities. It highlights the importance of considering local contexts in developing cycling cultures and emphasises the need for scholarly research to inform policy decisions.

Bicycles became popular in the mineral-rich south of the British colony when professionals like administrators, clerks, merchants, and missionaries used them for their work for the colonial administration. After defeating the Ashanti in 1874, the colonizers expanded into the Northern Territories and established Tamale as the administrative center, strategically located between Paga in the north and Kumasi in the south. The region had a rich trade network, particularly in kola nuts and salt—and head porterage was the crucial means to transport goods from one place to another. The construction of the Great North Road in the 1920s spurred rural development by enhancing trade and agriculture. Africans, including traders utilized bicycles to peddle their goods, while farmers used them to transport produce from the bush. Even children became familiar with bicycles.