J H Kwabena Nketia Archives

23/06/2022

Yesterday, 22nd June, 2022, marked the 101 birthday of the Late Emeritus Professor J. H. Kwabena Nketia, the giant in Ethnomusicology and man who laid the foundation for the J. H. Kwabena Nketia Archives, from 1952. Prof, you are solely missed, and we wish to assure you that your vision for African traditional arts, which was clearly stated in your 1963 convocation speech is still being pursued:

"We in the school of music and drama are deeply committed to African culture, and more especially to the performing arts of Africa. We believe that African traditional arts should be recorded, they should be preserved, they should be studied. But we believe also that they should not merely be studied, recorded, preserved, but practiced as living art. We believe also that the art must develop and that the study of African traditions should inspire creative experiments in the African idiom....." (J. H. Kwabena Nketia, 1963)

Agyapa, father for all! Rest well!!!!!

16/04/2022

Nketia Archives team celebrates Easter with the people of Alakple in the Volta Region of Ghana.
The Alakple Community celebrated their history with so much joy. The ceremony documented by the team symbolises their migration to their current location. (More details will be shared later)

Alakple is the hometown of General Kotoka - named after Ghana's International Airport

27/06/2021

Share this article On 7 September 2021 UNESCO is bringing together archives, libraries and museums from Africa in an online symposium to share the lessons learned from the Covid-19 pandemic and better plan for future crises. The event, under the theme “Strengthening the resilience of memory instit...

09/04/2019

In September, 2015, Prof J. H. Kwabena Nketia visited the J. H. Kwabena Nketia Archives to listen to one of his old pieces recorded in the mid 1960s which have been digitized through our MAARA project with support from New York University and AV Preserve. The music features Nketia on the piano and Jeffrey Boateng on voice. Videographer: Nat Kpogo

15/03/2019

The staff, patrons and friends of the J. H. Kwabena Nketia Archives will forever miss this icon.

Renowned Ghanaian ethnomusicologist Emeritus Prof. Joseph Hanson Kwabena Nketia has died at...

16/09/2018

Akwaaba to Ghana for IASA 2018. Don’t miss out folks!!!

IASA 2018 Conference, Accra, Ghana - 18 days to go; 18 reasons to attend!

#18 Meet IASA Ambassador, Judith Opoku-Boateng, Archivist of the J H Kwabena Nketia Archives, Institute of African Studies (IAS) at the University of Ghana, Legon. Judith and the IAS are the hosts to the 2018 IASA Conference.

Have a look the conference website for information about the conference venue and IAS. Don’t forget to register! http://2018.iasa-web.org/registration