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The AKADi Magazine Podcast connects communities through conversations. Hosted by editor Abena Sεwaa, these conversations aim to inform, inspire and illuminate the work of Ghanaians globally. Listen to the powerful narratives of everyday people making transformative cultural change in their communities. And find out how you can be part of that story too. https://linktr.ee/AKADiMag
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Some of the labour used to build Ghana’s railways came from the north of the country but there’s never been a railway in the region. But award-winning visual artist Ibrahim Mahama, in one of his latest installations, is interrogating this phenomenon. He has brought a piece of a railway track, train carriages and even planes to his Red Clay Studio i…
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Award-winning visual artist Ibrahim Mahama is the founder of three art spaces in Tamale, Northern Ghana: Red Clay Studio, Savannah Centre for Contemporary Art (SCCA) and Nkrumah Voli-ni. These arts spaces act as a repository for ancient and contemporary artefacts that have been recovered or donated and provide a platform for discussing Ghana's past…
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'The Golden Stool, or the Story of Nana Yaa Asantewaa' is an opera performance that debuts at the London's Barbican on 14 October. https://www.barbican.org.uk/whats-on/2024/event/the-golden-stool-or-the-story-of-nana-yaa-asantewaa The performance takes 12 classical opera songs, including Beethoven's 'Ode to Joy' and reworks them to tell the compell…
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Gorges Ocloo is a multi-disciplinary artist whose expertise includes performance art, contemporary dance – he is a stage director, librettist and composer and co-artistic director of Antwerp-based performing arts theatre Toneelhuis in Belgium. In this episode, Gorges talks about his AfrOpera - The Golden Stool, or the story of Nana Yaa Asantewaa, w…
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The ‘Family Ties: Adamah Papers’ exhibition at the Black Cultural Archives in Brixton, London is a collection of letters, documents and old newspapers belonging to an Ewe Fia (king). These papers are significant because they are thought to be the first of their kind in Britain (and maybe the world) to document Ghana’s Ewe community in such a manner…
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Epistles From Nkrumah Krom is a thought-provoking poetry performance designed with a symbolic language to reflect on contemporary issues from the vibrant streets of Accra. Poetivist and friends will take you on a journey through the captivating world of words and emotions on 15 June 2024. Get ready to be moved, inspired, and entertained by the powe…
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S6 Ep4| FROM BEDTIME STORIES TO 3-D ANIMATION part 2 - a chat with executive producer Emmanuel Sampene
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Executive producer Emmanuel Sampene talks about schooling in Ghana, studying in the USA and pivoting from a career solely in academia to creating his 3-D animation series Turkey Pinky Pants. 'Turkey Pinky Pants' has been selected for the Cinemagic Hollywood Film Festival in the Best Animation category thanks to the hard work of his team, which incl…
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S6 Ep3| FROM BEDTIME STORIES TO 3-D ANIMATION part 1 - a chat with executive producer Emmanuel Sampene
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Executive producer Emmanuel Sampene’s 3-D animation series Turkey Pinky Pants was inspired by the bedtime stories he used to tell his children. 'Turkey Pinky Pants' has been selected for the Cinemagic Hollywood Film Festival in the Best Animation category thanks to the hard work of his team, which includes Director, Bradley J. Krause, and talented …
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In this two-part episode, we speak to two inspiring women who are central to this opera - Louisa Adjoa Martin who has over 20 years’ experience as an opera singer performing with symphony choruses and is a soprano voice in this opera. And Helen Epega, also known as the Venus Bushfires, who composed and wrote Song Queen: A Pidgin Opera and is the le…
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In this two-part episode, we speak to two inspiring women who are central to this opera - Helen Epega, also known as the Venus Bushfires, who composed and wrote Song Queen: A Pidgin Opera and is the lead vocalist in the performance. And Louisa Adjoa Martin who has over 20 years’ experience as an opera singer performing with symphony choruses and is…
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Autism is a developmental brain condition that affects people’s ability to communicate, and influences how sufferers process the world around them. In this episode, we look at the story of one mother who shares how she got to terms with her son's mental health condition. AKADi Magazine editor Abena recounts their story and draws us in with his soot…
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Marie-Claire is the author of ‘One For Sorrow, Two For Joy’ - a book that explores the impact of unresolved childhood trauma in adult life. She wrote the book during the COVID-19 pandemic and recalls writing 54,000 words in two months, which she describes as "unnaturally fast". Listen to author Marie-Claire as she explores themes linked to trauma, …
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How does a person heal from childhood trauma? Listen to author Marie-Claire Amuah who explores the impact of unresolved childhood trauma in adult life in her debut book ‘One For Sorrow, Two For Joy’ on our ‘Connecting Communities’ Podcast. When we first meet Stella, she’s an eight-year-old girl who lives with her mum, dad and older brother Sol. Ste…
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‘Small Joys’ is the debut novel of Elvin James Mensah which tells the story of a friendship bond that blossoms between two unlikely friends called Harles and Muddy. Harles is a British-Ghanaian queer man who has a lot on his plate. He’s dropped out of university. He has a fraught relationship with his father and he’s battling depression. Muddy is a…
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‘Small Joys’ is the debut novel of Elvin James Mensah which tells the story of a friendship bond that blossoms between two unlikely friends called Harles and Muddy. Harles is a British-Ghanaian queer man who has a lot on his plate. He’s dropped out of university. He has a fraught relationship with his father and he’s battling depression. Muddy is a…
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What was life like for the average woman, man, and child in 17th, 18th and 19th century Accra? And what impact did the European presence have on the exchange of ideas, cultures, languages, traditions, trade and more? Our aim with this and subsequent interviews with historians and academic experts is to dig deeper into our understanding of what life…
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Abena Sɛwaa and KAmo, the editors of AKADi Magazine share their thoughts and highlights from a series of books written about the Danish presence in Accra during the 18th and 19th century. This segment is called: Challenging perspectives: Accra, her people and the Danes. Our aim is to dig deeper into our understanding of what life was like in Accra …
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Hello and welcome to another episode of our Connecting Communities Podcast. My name is Abena Serwaa, the publishing editor of AKADi Magazine and you were just listening to Lily Naadu Mensah, older sister to the late Douglas Ankrah – the cocktail entrepreneur, author and businessman who created one of the UK’s top 10 cocktails – famously called the …
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According to a report commissioned by the French president Emmanuel Macron in 2018, an estimated 90-95% of Africa’s heritage is outside of the Continent. What are we doing to return of African human remains and cultural artefacts? Onyekachi Wambu, who – at the time of the interview in October 2022, was the executive director of the African Foundati…
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Iconic veteran broadcaster Mike Eghan, aka the Magnificent Emperor, has had a colourful career as a DJ, radio broadcaster and more. He tells us about his encounter with Ike and Tina Turner, his time working for the BBC and shares some advice for aspiring broadcasters. Mike is pictured on the left with singer songwriter Wilson Pickett, a major figur…
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Iconic veteran broadcaster Mike Eghan, aka the Magnificent Emperor, has had a colourful career as a DJ, radio broadcaster and more. He tells us how he was able to pivot from a banking job to becoming one of the Ghanaian’s notable broadcasters; his time working for the BBC and how he met prolific photographer James Barnor. This podcast has been prod…
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Blitz the Ambassador unveiled his novel: 'The Scent of Burnt Flowers' (2022) at Africa Writes - a UK literary festival, and we got to speak to him. The book is set in the 1960s, during a period in Ghana’s political history and we follow African-American couple Bernadette and Melvin as they escape the USA for sanctuary in Accra. We got to hear more …
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S4Ep13| PROMOTING AFRICAN ENTREPRENEURSHIP - a chat with Gutta Soles founder Kromanteng part 4
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Ghana's Year of Return initiative was designed to encourage people of African descent to come to Ghana to visit, do business or live. We asked Gutta Soles founder Kromanteng what he thought. Image taken by @sameerfilm The music featured in this podcast is called 'Di Asempa' and comes from Atakora Manu & His Sound Engineers. Watch: Part 1: https://w…
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S4Ep12| FASHIONING FOOTWEAR for a Highlife icon - a chat with Gutta Soles founder Kromateng part 3
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Gutta Soles' name is inspired by Ghana's open gutters and the idea that although they may be filled with rubbish, there is treasure to be found. For founder Kromanteng, there is added symbolism in that Ghana's gutters are open - not closed, which means there is an opportunity for everyone to pull themselves out of their current situation. The Gutta…
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Gutta Soles' name is inspired by Ghana's open gutters and the idea that although they may be filled with rubbish, there is treasure to be found. For founder Kromanteng, there is added symbolism in that Ghana's gutters are open - not closed, which means there is an opportunity for everyone to pull themselves out of their current situation. The Gutta…
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One (wo)man's trash is another (wo)man's treasure. I love the ethos behind this company - Gutta Soles, particularly as the soles of the shoes are made from car tyres, ntuma (cloth), organic cotton and rubber. I spoke to founder Kromanteng about his brand. Image by @estella_ivanova_ The music featured in this podcast is called 'Di Asempa' and comes …
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Welcome to AKADi Magazine book review series with Abena Serwaa . This series takes books by Ghanaian authors or books about Ghana and deconstructs them according to their content and information value, while hopefully encouraging you to read them too. In this episode, I share my thoughts on the book: ‘Daughters of the Trade – Atlantic Slavers and I…
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Maxwell Ayamba MBE is a PhD research student in Black Studies at the Department of American & Canadian Studies at the University of Nottingham, whose research explores the trajectory of ‘race’ ecology and environmental justice in the UK. Maxwell is passionate about the countryside and increasing access for Black, Asian and other global majority gro…
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The UK premier of 'School Girls, Or The African Mean Girls Play' by Jocelyn Bioh, started on 8 June and runs until 15 July at The Lyric Hammersmith in London. It's set in Aburi Girls' Senior High School in Ghana's Eastern Region. And if like cast member Jadesola Odunjo and playwright Jocelyn, you went to a boarding school, this play may bring back …
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S4Ep6| PLAYING THE ANCIENT AFRICAN GAME - in conversation with the filmmakers behind the 'Ampe' documentary
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Did you know that the West African game, known as ampe in Ghana, is more than 200 years old and is recognised as a sport in Ghana? We spoke to two filmmakers - Claudia Owusu and Ife Oluwamuyide - whose film 'Ampe: Leap into the Sky, Black Girl' explores themes around girlhood, womanhood and the power of play. Find out more in the interview. See amp…
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Trauma and motherhood were strong themes in this book but in my reading of the novel, I never saw the women as victims. Rather, these women were heroic, misunderstood and extremely strong. Ada’s Realm is linguistically rich – at least four languages (Ga, Twi, German and English) appear in this book – not to mention an old English dialect too. The b…
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In this episode, we’re reviewing ‘Ada’s Realm’ by Sharon Dodua Otoo which has been translated from German to English by Jon Cho-Polizzi. The music in this episode is made exclusively for AKADi Magazine by Kyekyeku and the Super Opong Stars and is called 'Life No Dey Easy'. AKADi Magazine is a digital publication connecting Ghanaians in Ghana and th…
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Welcome to Connecting Communities - an AKADi Magazine series that profiles Ghanaians making transformative change in their communities. In this episode, Abena Sɛwaa speaks to the director Sarah Amankwah and cast members of DRUM - Benjamin Sarpong-Broni (who plays Mike Eghan) and Joshua Roberts-Mensah (who plays James Barnor). The 80-minute-long pla…
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Read It. Read It! is an AKADi Magazine segment aimed at book lovers. Our goal is to get you reading more books by Ghanaian authors, poets, illustrators or books about Ghana. We want you to share your thoughts on these books and hopefully, instead of us urging you to Read It. You’ll be telling us you’ve Read It! In this episode, we’re reviewing ‘Ada…
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Read It. Read It! is an AKADi Magazine segment aimed at book lovers. Our goal is to get you reading more books by Ghanaian authors, poets, illustrators or books about Ghana. We want you to share your thoughts on these books and hopefully, instead of us urging you to Read It. You’ll be telling us you’ve Read It! In this episode, we’re reviewing ‘My …
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ADINKRA London is a luxury accessories brand inspired by Africa with a focus on Ghanaian design and storytelling. In part two, we spoke to co-founder Patric Okumi to find out more. Visit their page for more: https://www.adinkralondon.com/ Part one of this interview is available on S3 Ep11. https://open.spotify.com/episode/3mlp0fjwRPIJbrG4HqpFuf To …
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ADINKRA London is a luxury accessories brand inspired by Africa with a focus on Ghanaian design and storytelling. We spoke to co-founder Patric Okumi to find out more. Visit their page for more: https://www.adinkralondon.com/ Part two of this interview drops soon. To listen to more content like this, visit our monthly AKADi Magazine Connecting Comm…
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Dr Marlene Ellis and Juliet Amoa share her stories of surviving breast cancer, why it inspired Marlene to create Black Breast Cancer - blackbreastcancer.com - and how Juliet's experience helped Marlene deal with the disease. A list of the references is available in the following link HERE. https://drive.google.com/file/d/17OIFHQ3vW920sxdJJyb2bcF2dH…
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Dr Marlene Ellis shares her story of surviving breast cancer, why it inspired her to create Black Breast Cancer and outlines how we can advocate for our own health. A list of the references is available in the following link HERE. https://drive.google.com/file/d/17OIFHQ3vW920sxdJJyb2bcF2dH-XZjI9/view Listen to part two of her story coming soon. To …
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Adinkra is the umbrella term for ideographic symbols that relate to historical events, philosophy and spiritual beliefs of the Akan people. These symbols make use of flora, fauna and shapes to depict age-old maxims and sayings. Abena explains more. Read the full article here. https://msbwrites.co.uk/2015/07/15/adinkra-more-than-just-a-pretty-face-2…
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Keteke means train in Akan and charts the escapades of heavily pregnant Atswei (played by Lydia Forson) and her husband Boi (Adjetey Anang) who are hell bent on getting to Atswei’s village to give birth. But they miss the weekly train which forces them on an adventure filled with comic and nail-biting moments. Poet Ziarly recounts their story and d…
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Welcome to Connecting Communities - an AKADi Magazine series that profiles Ghanaians making transformative change in their communities. In this episode, Abena Sɛwaa features Reverend Father Frank Ayakwah as part of our Ghanaians Abroad project to find at least one Ghanaian in each of the 195 UN-designated countries in the world. Father Ayakwah is o…
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In this second episode with activist and journalist Akyaaba Addai-Sebo, one of the architects behind the creation of Black History Month in the UK back in 1987, he tells us more about its development and how we can take it forward. Listen to part one here: The music in this episode is made exclusively for @akadimag by @lekyekyeku and @superopongsta…
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In this episode we speak to activist and journalist Akyaaba Addai-Sebo, one of the architects behind the creation of Black History Month in the UK back in 1987. In this first segment, he talks about how the 1966 coup d’etat in Ghana, that ousted Dr Kwame Nkrumah from power, changed his life. He explains what it felt like as a young activist in Wash…
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George Jojo Boateng is a university PhD candidate and doctoral researcher in Zurich, Switzerland and the co-founder of a start-up that uses smartphone technology and artificial intelligence to teach students coding. He explains how his PhD research could improve the quality of life of people managing chronic diseases. Join our Podcast Club to acces…
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S3Ep2| DIVERSIFYING GHANAIAN MUSIC – a conversation with Jembaa Groove’s co-founder Eric Owusu
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Eric Owusu is better known for supporting musical heavyweights such as Ebo Taylor and Pat Thomas and the Kwashibu Area Band with his energised live drumming performances. But this seasoned percussionist is making a return to his childhood passion as a singer. And he’s now fronting his own band Jembaa Groove with co-founder, composer and producer Ya…
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Welcome to Connecting Communities - an AKADi Magazine series that profiles Ghanaians making transformative change in their communities. In this clip, Abena Sɛwaa features Reverend Father Frank Ayakwah as part of our Ghanaians Abroad project to find at least one Ghanaian in each of the 195 UN-designated countries in the world. Father Ayakwah is one …
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Welcome to Connecting Communities - an AKADi Magazine series that profiles Ghanaians making transformative change in their communities. In this episode, Abena Sɛwaa speaks to prolific photographer Frederick Seton James Barnor whose career, as a studio portraitist and photojournalist, spans over sixty years. Join our Podcast Club to listen to the se…
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When you’re in Ghana, where do you go to have a good time and learn more about the country? FindGhana Series is an AKADi Magazine platform that invites people who live or are visiting Ghana to share events and their experiences of places they’ve been to. In this episode, Nii Anang, who went to Busua, in the Western Region and visited three tourist …
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Welcome to Connecting Communities - an AKADi Magazine series that profiles Ghanaians making transformative change in their communities. In this episode, Abena Sɛwaa speaks to broadcaster, journalist and public speaker Henry Bonsu about being one of only a few Black people at the University of Oxford, his career in journalism and the truth behind hi…
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