W'ahu #1, Accra
210 x 260 mm,
Accra, Ghana (English-language)
First published 2024
Editors: Colin Keays, Federico Martelli, Efia Serwah, Abraham Tettey
Contributing editors: Drama Queens
Possibly the first magazine we've had from Ghana, W'ahu is an incredibly welcome addition to our shelves. Physically, it's slim. It's bold blue cover (pictured) is hidden by a thin cardboard cover with an eye-shaped cut-out revealing only the title logo, a nod to the the rough translation of the phrase W'ahu: 'Have you seen?'
Inside, you'll find a fashion shoot between friends in the cliff-top village of Akuma, surreal and disembodied collage as a means of 'pushing back against traditional representations of black femininity' by Efia Serwah, an exploration of pre-colonial language and its relationship to identity, conversations with queer Ghanaian elders, and submissions from the community on love, sex, and identity.
As the editors write in their opening letter, 'Even within Ghanaian society today, there are many groups who express themselves authentically that are not truly seen for who they are, and are discriminated against as a result. ... What we're interested in is how the community views themselves through their own eyes when given a platform to do so. What do they want to say – and how do they want to be seen?'