By Gota Lois Atsufe Quarcoo and Elty Esi Wilson
Accra, Ghana – Creative Cave 2025, the annual festival of rich cultural display celebrated by students of the University of Media, Arts and Communication, Institute of Journalism (UniMAC-IJ), took place on 1 August 2025 at the South Legon campus under the theme “Unarchiving the African Heritage – Our Culture, Our Identity.” The event brought together students to represent and display different cultures from across Africa through creative writing projects. Each class came together as a group and drew countries from East, West, North, South and Central Africa, with this year’s presentations representing Uganda, Congo, Zambia, Benin and Algeria.
Earlier in the day, at 10:00 a.m., a seminar was held in the school’s auditorium, hosted by Ms. Offibea Awuku, a lecturer of English Language. The seminar featured Ms. Melody Abena Pessey, Mr. Kofi Kpodo and Ms. Makafui Aikins (CEO of Nvame) as panelists. They discussed the writing process for beginners, real-life situations, and shared their own experiences and selected works. There was also an exhibition of storybooks written by creative writing students as part of their end-of-semester project, followed by a presentation from a delegation from Nuclear Power Ghana and then lunch.
In the evening, anticipation was high among both staff and students despite a drizzle which delayed the commencement of the event by two hours. The programme began at 6:00 p.m. with an opening play by the school’s drama club, followed by the introduction of the judges, Mr. Eyram Evans Adorkor and Mr. Daniel Obeng Acquah. Team Buganda from Uganda opened the performances with a depiction of a king’s verdict. They were followed by Team Congo, who told the story of Patrice Lumumba and how the Democratic Republic of Congo gained independence. Team Zambia presented the N’cwhala, a tradition of harvest, while Team Benin performed a traditional festival on Zangbeto, the gods of Benin. Team Algeria concluded the night with a portrayal of the abolition of the lack of recognition and respect for adopted children of lower caste in Tuareg culture. These performances were interspersed with presentations from various clubs and departments.
The judges, staff and students were impressed by the creativity displayed by all groups, making the announcement of the winners a challenging task. Team Algeria emerged as the ultimate winners, followed by Team Zambia in second place and Team Uganda in third. A few individual awards were also presented to exceptional performers.
Creative Cave continues to be an event worth the time and resources invested, with the promise of being bigger and more exciting each year.
