Te Ase

What is Te Ase?

Te Ase (meaning "to hear from beneath" in Twi) is a three-year sonic research and development initiative that centres sound as knowledge. We create opportunities for women practitioners and researchers to explore how sound creates knowledge, focusing on transnational pathways between Africa, the Americas, Europe the UK.

VISION & RESEARCH FRAMEWORK

Co-directed by Chantel Akworkor Thompson (DēpART) and Carina Tenewaa Kanbi (Ɛdan), the research-led initiative is designed to explore sound as knowledge and infrastructure across African cities, diasporic sites, and transnational creative ecosystems. Anchored in Accra, Ghana, and disseminated globally, with strategic engagement in the UK, including Leicester and London, the project foregrounds sonic research as both a methodology and a tool for cultural, spatial, and social transformation.

Core Aims

Te Ase aims to:

  • Document and analyse sonic ecologies across African cities and diasporic contexts, foregrounding local knowledge systems and practices.

  • Investigate sound as knowledge, labour, and infrastructure, considering its ecological, social, and political dimensions.

  • Build sustainable, transnational networks for artists, researchers, and cultural practitioners, connecting African, diasporic, and UK-based communities.

  • Develop open-access, digital infrastructure to host research outputs, field recordings, annotated scores, publications, and multimedia resources.

  • Foster cross-sector application, linking sonic research to urban planning, environmental design, spatial justice, and creative industries innovation.

Our Team

Directors

Carina Tenewaa Kanbi is a Ghanaian and Scottish spatial practitioner, researcher, and creative producer whose work explores the intersections of culture, migration, and urban space. Her practice focuses on African spatial justice and mobility through the arts, with particular attention to how creatives build community and navigate cities such as Accra and Lagos.

Chantel Akworkor Attakakra Thompson is a curator, educator, and cultural strategist dedicated to reclaiming African visual narratives and advancing feminist-led creative power across the continent and its diaspora. Her practice focuses on designing long-term, non-extractive cultural partnerships, residencies, and programmes that build sustainable infrastructure while centring practitioner ownership and mutual value.