Ehalakasa
Ehalakasa is the platform where spoken word (poetry) intersects with music.
Eha means Song in Ewe
La means Sing in Ga
Kasa means Talk in Akan (Twi).
These separate words are combined to form EHALAKASA; and the audience response is:
“It lives in us!”
EHALAKASA is a concept created by Sir Black and musician/poet Nii Lantey in 2007, simply to bring poetry from the page to the stage.
The basic intent for EHALAKASA is to address and deal with issues relevant to our time as a people, while projecting Ghanaian values.
EHALAKASA has evolved out of the response of artists’ and art lovers’ desire for the awakening and recognition of spoken word performance, live music and poetry in Accra and Ghana.
Since 2007, EHALAKASA has been highly successful with projects and events like, Ehalakasa Slam, Ehalakasa Talk Party, the annual Ehalakasa International Poetry Day, Ehalakasa in Senior High Schools (workshops) and Ehalakasa Festival amongst others.
These events were organized in collaboration with Alliance Française, Goethe Institut, Nubuke Foundation, Writers Project of Ghana, Ghana Association of Writers, Cultural Education Unit of Ghana Education Service, Ghana Culture Forum, Foundation for Contemporary Art – Ghana, National Theatre – Ghana, etc.