Help the Bokoor House

2011-11-29T19:01:00.001-08:00

The Ghanaian NGO, BAPMAF Music Archive, was founded by Dr. John Collins in 1990 to preserve the legacy of traditional highlife music and to stimulate research into Ghanaian musical traditions. The archive has since grown to include over 700 photographs, 600 publications, over 700 highlife recordings, as well as serving Ghanaian youth with theater workshops.

Since the 1960's Dr. Collins has been an integral leader in Ghanaian music and scholarship; playing and recording with The Jaguar Jokers, E.T. Mensah, Koo Nimo, Fela Anikulapo-Kuti, Victor Uwaifo, and the Black Berets; recording artists at his Bokoor Recording Studio during the 1980's and 90's; as well as writing seminal texts such as “West African Pop Roots”, “African Musical Symbolism In Contemporary Perspective”, and “Fela, Kalakuta Notes”.

On the night of October 26, much of the BAPMAF collection was devastated by flood waters and mud. The damage is the direct result of construction on the Kumasi Highway and the practices of neighboring saw mills, both of which have severely restricted the flow of local waterways. Losses include:

Approximately 20% of BAPMAF's archival holdings
Electronic equipment donated by the German Goethe Institute for a digitization project
A vehicle, backup generator, and personal belongings

By clicking the “Donate” button above, your support will assist Dr. Collins achieve the following:

Secure a temporary storage space
Construct a 200 foot retaining wall to prevent future flooding
Replace lost equipment including computers, car, scanners, cameras, and digital record players

Thank you for your generosity.

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