THE TALK PARTY SERIES: Bringing Artists Together

ACCRA [dot] ALT’S “Talk Party Series” is a monthly discussion and film series where the dopest artists and media creatives in Ghana meet. This forum provides a space for young people to create innovative projects, exchange ideas about global art and politics, and hear brave new music by indie artists on the international scene.

Since 2008, artists, musicians, writers, creative professionals, and students have gathered at The Talk Party Series each month to discuss how to make Accra a viable and art-active city. The crowds are eclectic, sexy, smart, and passionate about the amazing art scene in Accra. The Talk Party Series, brings together the most fascinating folks, and has become the premier multidisciplinary arts gathering in the city.

The themes evolve each month to include debates over artistic freedom, political accountability, historical preservation, and the economic revitalization of the local cultural arts industry in Ghana. Through creative problem-solving, we also tackle issues affecting Ghanaian musicians such as payola and other forms of bribery, ineffective copyright protection, governmental neglect, street and digital piracy, and late or no payment for their work.

But what is talk without any action? It is through these discussions that Talk Party participants staged the CHALE WOTE Street Art Festival in July 2011, the largest free street festival to ever hit Accra: https://face2faceafrica.com/article/art-therapy-for-the-city-the-chale-wote-street-art-festival-ghana

The Talk Party Series also hosts Guerrilla Cinema , a unique exhibition space for cutting-edge independent film from Ghana and around the world. Guerilla Cinema invites filmmakers to screen and discuss their work with the Talk Party audiences. We consider the film’s relevance to our collaborative art-making initiatives in Accra. But we also like to have a good time. We love dope music, especially if it’s performed live. At The Talk Party Series, we jam to the latest and greatest new sounds by indie artists like M3NSA, Wanlov the Kubolor, Yaa Pono, Oga Chuxx, Mutombo, A.R.T., Lady J, Kyekyeku, Kwabena Danso, and Ecxtreme, among others. Gyedu Blay Ambolley, the father of hip hop music, comes to kick it with us on the regular. Ambolley’s been kicking rhymes since 1973, well before hip hop blew the roof off NYC and the rest of the world. Our resident wax selectas, Kobby Graham and DJ Juls, keep it funky for the people on the 1s and 2s.