After attending OneBeat, Accra-based poet and performer Ama Diaka was inspired to co-found Black Girls Glow (BGG), a Ghana-based feminist collective and initiative “to foster collaboration among women artists and explore ways that art can build community.” Founded in 2017 as a residency to foster collaboration among artists, it has grown into a cluster of programs dedicated to exploring ways in which art can be used to build community and thriving ecosystems. The program centers around a short intensive residency outside of Accra to create new works, using musical exercises such as round robins, soundpainting, “speed dating” duos and trios, and more. Following the residency, the cohort leads performances, workshops and recording sessions with volunteer producers around Accra in an effort to build networks of support for Ghanaian artists.
BGG’s first release, Mothers Of Heirs, is a dense and empowering mixtape featuring some of Ghana’s most exciting ascendent front-women and producers. Alumni of the program have created and launched collaborative groups and projects of their own, as BGG continues to produce concerts and workshops aimed at highlighting talented young female artists in the Ghanaian entertainment industry and fostering collaboration locally, regionally and globally.
Black Girls Glow: https://blackgirlsglow.
