Highlife music and dance | Global Knowledge Systems

Overview

Highlife music and dance is a popular form of musical expression and storytelling known for its lively rhythms, lyrics and strong connection to everyday life. It features a mix of instruments, including guitars, horns, drums, xylophones and percussion. The music is often built around call-and-response singing, with the lead singer echoed by a chorus of backup singers, and is performed in many local languages, as well as in English and Pidgin. It is performed during weddings, funerals, festivals and naming ceremonies, often with lyrics that reflect current social issues such as health, education, relationships and social norms and challenges. There are three main styles of Highlife — Dance Band, Guitar Band and Burger. The band leaders coordinate the performances and shows, creating networks and supervising the training of new members. People of all genders and backgrounds can be...

This record is imported from the UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage public dataset as discovery metadata. ARED has not independently verified community authority, access protocols or local naming beyond the source record.

Community and Authority

Communities: Ghana
Languages: Not specified in UNESCO dataset
Cultural territories: Ghana
Countries: Ghana

How the System Works

Music, Performance and Oral Literature Material Culture, Design and Technology Ways of Knowing and Knowledge Transmission

Sources and Evidence

Imported from UNESCO DataHub dataset ich001. Field-level provenance is retained in the record metadata.

UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage ListsDataset

Open original source record

Field-Level Provenance

title: UNESCO DataHub field title_en
preferredTitle: UNESCO DataHub field title_fr
summary: UNESCO DataHub field description_en
type: UNESCO DataHub fields type_of_element_en and type_acronym
countries: UNESCO DataHub field countries, ISO codes resolved with ISO-3166 regional metadata
categories: ARED category inference from UNESCO concepts_primary_names, concepts_secondary_names and title
relationships: UNESCO concepts_primary_names, concepts_secondary_names, type fields and World Heritage links
sourceUrl: UNESCO DataHub field http_url_en
rights: UNESCO DataHub dataset metadata license and license_url

Original Source Metadata

uuid1d9794aa-eb77-4230-b8f0-2a206d23ef12

ich_public_ref2141

inscription_year2025

title_enHighlife music and dance

title_frLa musique et la danse highlife

type_of_element_enRepresentative List

type_acronymRL

countriesGH

http_url_enhttps://ich.unesco.org/en/RL/02141

concepts_primary_namesDance, Instrumental music, Vocal music

concepts_secondary_namesApprenticeship, Disc recordings, Music education, Percussion instruments, Plucked string instruments, Social inclusion, Wind instruments

main_image_urlhttps://ich.unesco.org/img/photo/thumb/19390-LRG.jpg

main_image_caption_enPHOTO CAPE COAST SUGAR BABIES at Enugu, Nigeria 1937 Foto from Ebo Mensah now with BAPMAF archives.

main_image_copyrightProf. John Collins (BAPMAF)

main_image_authorNot supplied

videoshttps://www.youtube-nocookie.com/v/TMCUyOIZhzw

images[object Object], [object Object], [object Object]

Why This Record Is Credible

This public record is connected to 1 source and has been labelled Source Supported. ARED separates evidence sources from cultural authority so users can see both provenance and review limits.

Cultural Access

Use this as public discovery metadata only. It does not replace community authority or local access protocols.

Relationships

Dance Instrumental music Vocal music Apprenticeship Disc recordings Music education Percussion instruments Plucked string instruments Social inclusion Wind instruments UNESCO representative list

Review and Corrections

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