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Paper short abstract:

This paper explores how digital platforms democratize access to African cultural content, empowering diverse voices and challenging traditional barriers in the dynamic landscape of digital media.

Paper long abstract:

This paper delves into the transformative role of digital platforms in democratizing access to African cultural content, thereby fostering an inclusive and empowered landscape for diverse voices in the digital age of cultural expression. In an era marked by rapid technological advancements, these platforms serve as catalysts for breaking down traditional barriers, ensuring that the rich tapestry of African cultural narratives is accessible to a global audience. Through an examination of various digital media channels and their impact, the paper sheds light on the empowerment of voices that were historically marginalized. It explores how these platforms provide a stage for storytellers, artists, and creators from diverse backgrounds, challenging conventional notions of representation. The democratization of access facilitates a more nuanced and authentic portrayal of African cultures, moving beyond stereotypes and providing a platform for self-representation. Moreover, the paper addresses the implications for authorship and ownership in this digital landscape. It investigates how digital media redefines traditional concepts, empowering individuals and communities to assert control over their cultural narratives. By embracing the digital age, African voices can navigate new avenues for expression, fostering cultural exchange and understanding on a global scale. In essence, this research contributes to the discourse on the intersection of technology, culture, and representation, emphasizing the pivotal role of digital platforms in reshaping the narrative landscape and ensuring that the digital age becomes a powerful tool for inclusivity, empowerment, and the amplification of diverse African voices.

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Paper short abstract:

There has been a shift in the practice of African dance, which gained massive recognition within constituted global world culture. This study examines unconventional dance creations and how traditionally acclaimed notions of spatiotemporal limitations are obliterated within digital spaces.

Paper long abstract:

Deconstructing and navigating the trinities of time, space, and action, African dance experiences and practices in today's world have been redefined through technological interventions and digital connections. The obliteration of time and space, among many other advantages, has made African dances accessible to all and sundry without restrictions. More importantly, this connection has also created lucrative artistic spaces and healthy competitive relations through dance trends and challenges within digital spaces. Consequently, the question of source, authorship, or ownership of the African-generated movement or dance trend becomes secondary as the quest to participate or tap into the 'moments of dance fame' takes top priority. This study seeks to identify the unconventional platform of dance creation and viewership to examine how traditionally acclaimed notions of spatial and temporal limitations in dance are obliterated within digital spaces. It seeks to cross-examine the theoretical dimensions that can explain the new dance world culture, which has most recently destroyed dance's geographical boundaries and limitations across cultures. The study has, therefore, randomly selected African dance trends and challenges on TikTok and Instagram networks to appraise the interconnectedness and interplay between the trinities and how digital artists and audiences connect to create the most vibrant dance content and global experiences.

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Paper short abstract:

The interactive digital platform TikTok has unprecedentedly increased the visibility of African popular products within and beyond the continent. Focusing on the vibrant Kenyan digital space, the paper interrogates users' performative engagement with film and music produced elsewhere in Africa.

Paper long abstract:

For centuries, Africa has had to contend with the strong influence of external cultures that gives little room for intra-continental cultural interaction. However, the current boom of interactive digital platforms in Africa has turned the tide by enhancing unprecedented transcultural exchange among people within the continent. In particular, the video-sharing platform TikTok has significantly increased the visibility of African popular products within and beyond the borders of the continent with far-reaching consequences for the cultural industry. This paper understands digital products as works in progress with users involved in some sort of collaborative co-composition with the original artist(s). With a decisive focus on the vibrant Kenyan digital space, the paper seeks to interrogate how users performatively engage with film and music produced in other cultural contexts in Africa in ways that resonate with their local settings. In the process, attention will be paid to the transformative potentials of user agency, the viability of synchronous meaning-making from disparate cultures, and the extent to which cultural exchange occurs in TikTok performances. The paper examines popular Kenyan performance cultures with a view to locating the contemporary digital trends within pre-existing local traditions and practices. To achieve this, prominence is given to spontaneous acts not commissioned by the original artists nor associated companies in order to characterise the true dynamics of ordinary performances by users. The concept of “distributed creativity” (Literat & Glaveanu, 2018) will be employed in the theoretical and contextual sense-making of the collaborative artistry of Kenyan TikTok users.

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Paper short abstract:

Digital platforms have gained prominence especially post covid. TikTok is one of such platforms that has promoted dance in various ways. Ghanaian indigenous dance creators have not as much caught up with the craze. This paper explores Ghanaian indigenous dance on TikTok.

Paper long abstract:

In recent years, the increasing influence of digital platforms like TikTok has provided an opportunity for indigenous creators to share their cultures with a global audience. Ghanaian indigenous dance has been a significant part of the country’s cultural heritage for centuries. However, indigenous dancers in Ghana have not, as yet, taken full advantage of digitized platforms for heritage preservation. The study is contextualized within the theoretical perspectives of cultural preservation, digital anthropology, and media studies. A qualitative research design was employed, including digital ethnography, interviews with Indigenous creators, and a content analysis of TikTok dance videos for a comprehensive understanding of the research problem. This approach provided an in-depth understanding of the experiences of Ghanaian indigenous creators on TikTok and the reception of Indigenous dance content on the platform. It was found, amongst others, that there is a growing reception and appreciation for indigenous dance content on Tiktok, albeit slower than contemporary dance, thereby promoting cultural sensitivity. The research contributes to the literature on the use of social media platforms for cultural preservation and provides valuable insights into the potential of TikTok in preserving and promoting indigenous dance in the digital age.

Keywords:

Cultural Heritage, Ghanaian Indigenous Dance, Reception, TikTok, Digital Age

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Paper short abstract:

It investigates the protagonism of Afro-diasporic pop on digital platforms, based on how the Afrobapho collective (Brazil), formed by young black non-binary people, explores TikTok and Instagram as spaces of existence by articulating music, audiovisual, pop-peripheral and Afro-diasporic repertoires.

Paper long abstract:

This proposal aims to examine the reconfigurations of pop culture in the Global South based on Afro-diasporic protagonism in intersection with gender dissidence, fostered by the new dynamics of audiovisual consumption and circulation on digital networks. The study shows how the process of decolonisation of knowledge and digital media has not only enabled the global presence of Afro-diasporic popular culture, but has also accentuated the transcultural and decolonial power of pop. Based on this understanding, we examined how the Afrobapho collective, made up of young black and non-binary people from the suburbs of Salvador, Bahia (Brazil), has explored TikTok and Instagram as spaces for visibility and celebration of their existence through innovative artistic collaborations that combine music, audiovisuals and performances in a symbiosis of local, traditional and global repertoires. We're interested in examining how these youth groups have created black affective communities based on processes of transculturation of global pop. Afrobapho articulates global aesthetic references, related to Afrofuturism, voguing and the US Ballroom scene, with elements of Afro-Brazilian peripheral pop music, such as pagode from Bahia and funk from Rio de Janeiro, and the traditions that marked the resistance of enslaved peoples in the Americas, such as Capoeira and Candomblé. In theoretical-methodological terms, this study explores Afro-diasporic knowledge from black Brazilian authors, such as Lélia Gonzalez and the concept of "amefricanidade” (amefricanity), and Leda Maria Martins and the notions of "encruzilhadas" (crossed paths) and spiral temporality.

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Paper short abstract:

This research examines how collaborative endeavors of Nigerian musicians promote inter-cultural connections and how digital platforms has globalised Nigerian music and musicians. It specifically focuses on Burna Boy as a case study.

Paper long abstract:

The intersection of digital platforms and the collaborative efforts between Nigerian artists and non-Nigerian musicians has transformed the music landscape, fostering intercultural connections and promoting diversity. While there is growing interest in researching how digital platforms facilitate such endeavors and enhance global access to music, there is still a need to explore the impact of these collaborations on cultural exchange. This research aims to fill the void by examining how collaborations involving Nigerian Burner Boy and non-Nigerian artists have become a catalyst for promoting intercultural connections and how digital platforms democratizes access to his music in the digital era. His collaborations with non-Nigerian artists like Beyonce, an American artist, Stormyz, a British rapper, Sam Smith, Jorja Smith, a British highlight his ability to connect with artists from different genres and countries. Their shared artistic expressions expose diverse audiences to a fusion of styles, facilitating a deeper understanding of cultural nuances. Digital platforms such as Dropbox, and SoundCloud, and collaborative tools such as Splice enable seamless file sharing and real-time collaboration on musical projects, breaking down geographical barriers and fostering global collaboration among musicians. Digital platforms facilitate music collaborations by providing a virtual space for artists to connect, share ideas, and collaborate remotely. Features like playlists and algorithm-driven recommendations help connect artists from different cultural backgrounds, exposing their music to new audiences and fostering more collaborative opportunities. By exploring the impact of these collaborations and the role of digital platforms, intercultural connections across music industries can further be promoted and enhanced.

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Paper short abstract:

This study is motivated by a specific social media moment where a collaborative effort provoked conversation on social media around sampling and African musical innovation. Drawing on Burna Boy’s “On the Low” and Arya Starr’s “Sability,” i interrogate the effect of sampling on Afrobeats genre.

Paper long abstract:

This study is motivated by the ways in which a specific social media moment where a collaborative effort provoked conversation on social media around sampling and African musical innovation. The success of Burna Boy’s “Last Last” which sampled Toni Braxton’s “He wasn’t Man Enough for Me” generated discussion around distribution of royalties and the nature of musical adaptation possible within Afrobeats as a genre. Partly, it has been claimed that the success of Afrobeats has a lot to do with its nodding to other musical forms within and beyond Africa. While Burna Boys’ “Last Last” demonstrates a cultural exchange that is inter-continental, this paper explores Afrobeats songs that manifest intra-continental forms of cultural exchange and the social media debates framing their reception as popular songs. Drawing on Burna Boy’s “On the Low” and Arya Starr’s “Sability” as well as social media debates by audiences across cultural divides on the selected songs, this paper explores intra-African sampling and interpolation, and their effect on the resilience of Afrobeats as a musical genre. In addition, the paper interrogates the question of originality within adaptation. The study will take a media ethnography approach which will be supplemented by a close reading of the selected songs. Karin Barber’s concept of “entextualization” and McLeod and Dicola’s ideas on digital sampling will be used to examine how sampling serves to reinvent musical forms and sustain Afrobeats as a genre.

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Paper short abstract:

Contemporary collaborative performances continue to thrive on digital platforms, this study investigates their role in reshaping the visibility of African popular cultural products worldwide.

Paper long abstract:

With a keen eye on representation, the paper aims to scrutinize how these contemporary collaborations influence the portrayal of African identities, delving into the nuanced narratives they convey. Beyond mere reflection, the study explores how digital audio-visual media empowers African communities by providing a platform for diverse voices to resonate globally. This analysis considers the collaborative endeavours that transcend geographical constraints, amplifying the cultural richness of African identities on a broader scale. This research adds a critical layer to the understanding of the evolving landscape of African popular culture, offering insights into how digital audio-visual collaborations become instrumental in redefining and empowering cultural identities within a global context. The findings would contribute to a broader conversation on the dynamic interplay between technology, collaboration, and cultural representation.