As part of the official lead-up activities to the RocAfrik Festival, one full day of the program was dedicated to filming the music video for the Voices of Ghana EP, a cross-cultural collaboration between Latvian folk ensemble Auļi and Ghanaian vocalist Abiana.
This filming day formed a core creative activity within the festival build-up, focusing on visual storytelling, cultural exchange, and documentation of the collaborative process behind the EP.
Music Video & Documentary Filming Day
Capturing a Cross-Cultural Sound on Film
Voices of Ghana EP
The Voices of Ghana EP blends Baltic folk traditions with Ghanaian highlife and soul influences. As part of RocAfrik’s commitment to creative production beyond live performance, the festival program included a dedicated filming session to interpret the music and preserve the collaboration on screen visually.
The shoot also marked the beginning of a documentary project linked to the EP, capturing behind-the-scenes moments, artist dialogue, and the shared creative journey between Ghana and Latvia.
Filming Location
Shai Hills Resource Reserve, Doryumu, Accra
The music video was filmed at the striking Shai Hills Resource Reserve, chosen for its cultural significance and dramatic natural landscape. The location offered a powerful visual setting that mirrored the EP’s themes of heritage, rhythm, and connection to place.
By situating the filming within one of Ghana’s iconic natural environments, RocAfrik reinforced the link between music, land, and cultural memory.
Direction and Visual Production
The video was directed by Kaspars Bārbals, leader of Auļi, with cinematography led by band members Gatis Indrēvics and Jēkabs Vilkārsis. Their hands-on involvement ensured that the visual narrative stayed closely aligned with the music’s cultural intent and collaborative spirit.
Abiana
Abiana is a leading Ghanaian singer celebrated for her fusion of highlife, soul-life, and neo-soul. Her participation in the filming day placed Ghanaian vocal tradition at the center of the project, translating sound into image while deepening the artistic exchange initiated through the EP recordings.
From Filming Day to Festival Stage
The filming day directly fed into the wider RocAfrik program, leading to the official live performance launch of the Voices of Ghana EP at the RocAfrik concert in Accra. The collaboration between Auļi and Abiana, first documented on this production day, became a defining example of RocAfrik’s approach to festivals as living creative processes rather than standalone events.
Extending the RocAfrik Creative Legacy
The Voices of Ghana EP is available on major music streaming platforms, while the filmed visuals and documentary material serve as a lasting cultural record of the collaboration. Together, they reflect RocAfrik’s mission to support the creation, documentation, and global circulation of African and international artistic partnerships.