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A lecture-performance by Ghanaian artist Nii Noi Nortey, followed by concerts from the Berlin Afrobeat Company and Accra’s Santrofi, will bring African music, history and political thought together at the Haus der Kulturen der Welt on 15 October.
Afrobeats fans in Berlin have an opportunity to experience an evening rooted in the musical and political legacy of Nigerian icon Fela Anikulapo Kuti, as the Haus der Kulturen der Welt (HKW) hosts its annual Ein Felasophisches Treffen on Thursday, 15 October 2026.
The programme combines a lecture-performance with live music from two distinctive acts: the Berlin Afrobeat Company, whose history is closely linked to Fela’s celebrated appearance at the 1978 Berlin Jazz Days, and Santrofi, an eight-member Ghanaian group known for blending classic highlife rhythms with contemporary influences.
The event celebrates Fela not only as a pioneering musician but also as a political activist and thinker whose music challenged corruption, authoritarianism and social injustice. Its title, Ein Felasophisches Treffen — roughly translated as “A Felasophical Gathering” — reflects the idea that his influence extends beyond the dance floor into political consciousness, cultural identity and African history.
Nii Noi Nortey: Music as a form of historical memory
The evening opens at 6pm with a free lecture-performance by Nii Noi Nortey, a Ghanaian multi-instrumentalist, sound artist and educator. In a programme titled What Happens When History Is Not Only Remembered, but Sounded?, Nortey explores the relationship between African historical consciousness and Fela’s understanding of music as a form of political awareness.
Drawing on the ideas of Senegalese historian and anthropologist Cheikh Anta Diop and Fela Kuti, Nortey uses sound, improvisation and adapted or self-built instruments to explore the legacies of displacement, rupture and survival, including the continuing historical impact of the transatlantic slave trade. The performance asks how music can carry historical memory and create new ways of engaging with the past.
The Berlin Afrobeat Company: A living link to Fela
At 7pm, the Berlin Afrobeat Company takes the stage. Its origins go back to 1978, when Fela Kuti and his band Africa 70 performed at the Berlin Jazz Days. Following that landmark concert, several musicians associated with the ensemble remained in Berlin, helping establish a lasting connection between the city and the Nigerian Afrobeat movement.
Today, the Berlin Afrobeat Company brings together international musicians based in Berlin to preserve and reinterpret Fela’s music. Its performance offers audiences an opportunity to hear the rhythms, horn arrangements and politically charged musical spirit that helped make Afrobeat an influential genre worldwide.
Santrofi brings Accra’s highlife sound to Berlin
The evening’s second concert begins at 8.30pm with Santrofi, an eight-member supergroup from Accra led by producer and bassist Emmanuel Kwadwo Ofori.
Founded in 2019, Santrofi draws on Ghana’s highlife tradition, combining its intricate guitar lines, brass arrangements and infectious grooves with the energy of contemporary hip-hop. The musicians developed their skills performing with established Ghanaian artists, including Ebo Taylor, Pat Thomas, Gyedu-Blay Ambolley and the late highlife pioneer AB Crentsil.
Their debut album, Alewa, appeared in 2020, while their 2025 release, Making Moves, continues the group’s effort to carry highlife into a new generation. For listeners familiar with Afrobeats, Santrofi offers a chance to explore a closely related but distinct musical tradition that has helped shape modern African popular music.
For Berlin’s African music community and anyone curious about the roots and evolution of Afrobeat, highlife and contemporary African sounds, Ein Felasophisches Treffen offers more than a concert night. It is an opportunity to experience how African music connects generations, crosses borders and keeps history and political ideas alive through rhythm and performance.
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EVENT DETAILS
A Felasophical Gathering
Date: Thursday, 15 October 2026, 6pm–10pm
Venue: Haus der Kulturen der Welt (HKW)
John-Foster-Dulles-Allee 10, 10557 Berlin
Safi Faye Hall / Miriam Makeba Auditorium
Event information and tickets: Click HERE
