Bokoor African Popular Music Archives Foundation (BAPMAF)

Founded in 1990 by Professor John Collins, the Bokoor African Popular Music Archives Foundation (BAPMAF) is a Ghanaian NGO that is supported by a group of leading Ghanaian popular musicians. Its focus is on the research of local Ghanaian highlife music. Since its establishment, the archives have expanded to other areas of African music.

The core of the BAPMAF collections are John Collin’s own music archives that he began collecting since the late 1960’s. Some archival contributions were made by many professors and artists including Jimmy Moxon, Ghana’s first Minister of Information.

After extensive re-building, the BAPMAF premises were re-opened in 2007 as the BAPMAF Highlife –Music Institute. The premises now have a photo exhibition room, seminar room, digital documentation room, audio-video lab, listening booths and library for photos, video, printed matter and recorded music.

The centre’s music collection consists of 1 500 hours of recorded music, 780 old highlife songs on shellac 78 rpm records and Ghanaian master-tapes which were recorded at John Collins studio.

Collins is currently the acting chairman of BAPMAF and is also a music professor at the University of Ghana. He has also done research on the documentation of highlife music.