Seeing Sounds :Awesome Tapes From Africa

Venue: Studio Marie-Claude Beaud Through a selection of rare and iconic recordings, Brian Shimkovitz will explore highlife, a major genre that emerged in Ghana in the early…

Venue: Studio Marie-Claude Beaud

Through a selection of rare and iconic recordings, Brian Shimkovitz will explore highlife, a major genre that emerged in Ghana in the early 20th century. This style blends Ghanaian rhythms and musical traditions with Western instruments and jazz influences, giving rise to music that is at once festive, sophisticated and deeply rooted in local culture.

Over the course of the session, he will trace the evolution of highlife, its many offshoots and its lasting influence on popular music in West Africa and beyond. More than a history of highlife, this encounter invites listeners to hear music as a space where memory, identity, migration and transmission intersect, making listening a sensitive extension of the questions raised by Ibrahim Mahama's exhibition.