FROM ECHO TO ECOSYSTEM-Ɛdan GHANA
Client: Ɛdan Ghana, an Accra-based creative lab exploring sound, storytelling, and alternative research methods rooted in African spatial experience and sonic heritage.
Project Overview:
Commissioned as part of Earth, Memory, and the Spaces We Inhabit — Black Females in Architecture’s curatorial debut at the London Festival of Architecture 2025 — Ɛdan Ghana presented There Was Chorus Before Concrete, a sonic installation that explores matrilineal memory, labour, and care through sound. The project was led by researcher Carina Tenewaa Kanbi in collaboration with pioneering Ghanaian DJ and producer TMSKDJ.
The installation, developed from field recordings and community sound practices in Accra and Freetown, formed a “live, matrilineal archive,” challenging traditional architectural narratives and asserting listening as a vital spatial and political act. TMSKDJ composed an original track using the gathered recordings, transforming everyday sonic environments into atmospheric testimony.
To extend the impact of this work, DēpART co-curated a public programme and a parallel initiative titled From Echo to Ecosystem: Building Infrastructure for Ghana’s Sonic Creators — a series of events and conversations on sonic agency, rights advocacy, and artist-led music ecosystem development in Ghana.
DēpART’s Role & Impact:
Strategic Partnerships & Sponsorship:
Secured event sponsorship from PPL PRS Ltd, enabling two key programme activations.
Initiated a partnership with BBE Music Store for an in-conversation event and listening experience with TMSKDJ and Emma Korantema.
Established collaboration with Create Define Release (CDR) music charity, hosting a producers’ masterclass at Strongroom Studios.
Programme Curation & Event Production:
Curated and facilitated “There Was Chorus Before Concrete: Listening Experience & Conversation” — an intimate discussion moderated by Emma Korantema, co-founder of Where Are The Womxn, exploring TMSKDJ’s process and sonic storytelling as a tool of resistance and memory.
Produced a Producers' Masterclass with TMSKDJ at CDR, offering emerging talent direct access to TMSKDJ’s creative process, career insights, and behind-the-scenes reflection on her commission.
Industry Advocacy & Cultural Dialogue:
Delivered a presentation and performance with TMSKDJ at PPL PRS Ltd’s headquarters in Leicester, sharing the genesis of the project, its impact and Edan’s future plans.
Ongoing Partnership Development:
Facilitating continued dialogue with PPL PRS and CDR on long-term, cross-continental collaboration for research, skills exchange, and infrastructure-building — grounded in equity and reparative justice.
This project not only amplified Ɛdan’s creative research but positioned Ghanaian women’s sonic knowledge at the centre of spatial discourse and music ecosystem reform. By bridging cultural production with structural advocacy, There Was Chorus Before Concrete laid a powerful foundation for sustained international collaboration — listening not just to archive, but to imagine and build new sonic futures.