MEH MOGYA (SAMPLE OF ME)
Audio Composition (Vinyl and Digital Download), 2011
"This is special…itches identity, family and culture via a raw, Madlibbed, fucked-up re-jigging of classic, scratchy Ghanaian highlife, lit up by sampled fighting talk from the great Kwame Nkrumah..."
The Showroom’s Communal Knowledge programme hosted workshops with students from the Fresh Start course at City of Westminster College.
The group undertook research and practice that deconstructed sound-based information from the participants’ histories, contemporary surroundings and that of The Showroom’s neighbourhood. This archive of sounds and recordings were then remixed to generate new audio compositions.
This project continued existing research that investigates the audible potentials of personal and non-personal expression through sampling, sound recording and experimenting with processes. Exploring concepts of identity with regard to Ghanaian and British heritage and a relationship with with Highlife, a music genre that predates Jazz originating from Ghana in the 1900s. Groups such as E.T. Mensah and his 12-piece band The Tempos represent the charismatic archetype of the Highlife dance band and travelled on state visits with the 1st President of Ghana, Kwame Nkrumah, who encouraged music as a cultural identifier and saw Ghana’s independence from British colonial rule in 1957.
The outcome of the project was launched at an event at The Showroom in a limited edition of 200 vinyl records, each including a silk-screen printed cover.
The event presented an audio performance which included a communal listening and participatory event. In addition to discussing his own history and the legacy of Highlife, audio was combined and mixed from vinyl records and the audience were invited to participate by presenting samples of themselves via self-presentation and submission of their own vinyls.
The project was also presented in Riga, at the Latvian Centre for Contemporary Art for the international exhibition Survival Kit, which included a site-specific installation and presentation the project via a DJ-based performance.
Workshop - The Showroom
Record Launch - The Showroom
Installation - Latvian Centre for Contemporary Art
Performance - Latvian Centre for Contemporary Art
Meh Mogya (Sample Of Me)
Communal Knowledge, produced with support from The Paul Hamlyn Foundation, The John Lyons Charitable Trust, and The Showroom Supporters Scheme
Sample of Me, produced within the framework of ‘Survival Kit. Art linking society, knowledge and activism’ and with the support of the Culture 2007 - 2013 programme of the European Union