AKADi Magazine

Send us Fan Mail 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 in Tamale.  His work at Red Clay...

Send us Fan Mail 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, present and future. In th...

Send us Fan Mail '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 compellin...

Send us Fan Mail 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, which comes to London's Barbi...

Send us Fan Mail 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. Charles tells us more. Read t...

Send us Fan Mail 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 power of spoken word. Don't miss...

Send us Fan Mail 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 includes Director, Bradley...

Send us Fan Mail 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 supervising animator, S...

Send us Fan Mail 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 lead vocalist in the performance.  ...

Send us Fan Mail 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 a soprano voice in this opera. ‘...

Send us Fan Mail 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 soothing tones as we discover wh...

Send us Fan Mail 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, superstition and heal...

Send us Fan Mail 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. Stella is a bright young girl, loved...

Send us Fan Mail ‘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 Mancunian man who moves into a...

Send us Fan Mail ‘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 Mancunian man who moves into a...

Send us Fan Mail 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 was like in Accra (primarily). W...

Send us Fan Mail 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 (primarily) for the average woman...

Send us Fan Mail 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 Pornstar Martini. This cocktail...

Send us Fan Mail 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 Foundation for Development (AFFORD), talk...

Send us Fan Mail 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 figure in the development of soul...

Send us Fan Mail 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 produced by KAmo. The hosts are Abe...

Send us Fan Mail 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 about what inspired Bli...

Send us Fan Mail 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://www.youtube.com...

Send us Fan Mail 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 Soles brand has i...

Send us Fan Mail 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 Soles brand has i...