UK-based Ghanaian artiste and pioneer of Afrobeats, Fuse ODG, is confident the maiden edition of This Is New Africa (TINA) Festival will create the platform for Africans to retell their stories.
Addressing the media at a press soiree Friday, Fuse ODG lamented the negative image the media portrays of Africa, calling for collective efforts to change that demeaning narrative.
“I travel a lot and I represent Ghana everywhere I go. And I’m always putting Ghana in a positive light and as I have said the media likes to portray Africa in such a negative way, that we have to stand up and tell our story. And that is what TINA, This Is New Africa is all about. Creating a platform where we can start telling our own story so something like TINA festival is a platform and it’s the battleground for people to come back home and experience our culture, and experience Ghana the way that we know,” the ‘Antenna’ hitmaker said.
Fuse ODG cautioned Ghanaians against projecting the country’s shortfalls, but rather display a positive image of the country, and the continent to the rest of the world.
He disclosed that the Western world has imprinted an image of a ‘safe haven’ to Africans inasmuch as they also have their own challenges.
“Yes we have issues in the country just like any other country in the world but we also have our culture that is beautiful as well so a country like America, they have their issues. They have the poorest communities but when you are watching TV, the America that you see is the America that they want you to see,” he added.
The inaugural TINA festival will take place at the Round Pavilion, Trade Fair on Friday, January 4, 2019. The music festival seeks to reunite the African diaspora by creating a platform for Africans both home and abroad to come together under one umbrella and appreciate the uniqueness of Africa through music.
Performing artistes include Ghana’s award-winning rapper, Sarkodie, Joey B, one of Africa’s finest hiphop artiste, Stefflon Don, Lethal Bizzle, some underground artistes as well as the Afrobeats pioneer, Fuse ODG.
Prior to the TINA festival, there will be a National Builders Day on January 2, 2019 at the Wood World Mission Charity School, set up by This Is New Africa and Wood World Mission Charity. The Nation Builders Day will feature boat rides across the Akosombo and the repainting of the TINA school.
The Global Diaspora Conference will mark the second day of the TINA festivities. The conference, which will feature speakers such as President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, Samia Nkrumah, BBC TV Broadcaster Reggie Yates, Ghanaian actress Ama K. Abebrese, Chaka Bars of I Heart Africa and Fuse ODG himself.
The dress code for the TINA festival is any attire with a touch of kente.
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