About COL

Our mission is to promote social and cultural inclusion in communities by providing opportunities for intercultural dialogued and experiences through music and the creative arts.

Through educational programmes, events and cross-cultural exchange of ideas and experiences we aim to contribute to a culture of peace.

We aim to:

• Promote a more diverse representation of African culture.
• Bring together local, national and global communities.
• Encourage an interest in modern African culture amongst young people living in western societies.
• Support companies and organisations in developing cultural awareness projects.

The logo of the organisation represents a fossilised echinoderm otherwise know as a starfish. This starfish became our logo and represents the ethos of the Colour of Life. The individual tentacle represents each individual’s unique contribution to life, their skills and ideas. The star in the middle represents people from different parts of the world with differing perspectives. (Africa, Europe, Asia, USA and Australia) Together with our combined efforts and expertise we come together to work towards a particular goal in this case a culture of peace.

‘ It is in our hands to join our strength, taking sustenance from our diversity, honoring our rich and varied traditions and culture, but acting together for the protection and benefit of us all’ Kwame Nkrumah

The origins of The Colour of Life can be traced back to Ghana 1999, where founder, Alice Annum, was teaching in Accra and co-founding an NGO called ELEVATIONS. In 2000, the ELEVATIONS Peace Committee co-ordinated a month-long pro-peace campaign that included a wide range of activities in celebration of the United Nation’s World Peace Day. One of their most significant events was a Peace Jam concert, which saw artist using vocal and musical expressions to call for peace. This method of using music as a tool to galvanise action and engage young people is what has inspired the ethos of The Colour of Life.

The Colour of Life, was established with an On the Line Millennium Award in the year 2000 (a project founded by Oxfam, Channel 4 and WWF-UK) to look at the countries, situated on the meridian line and sharing Greenwich Mean Time (GMT), i.e. UK, Algeria, Burkina Faso, Togo, Ghana, Mali, France and Spain.

With this grant the Colour of Life produced and published its first compilation EP and delivered its first Global Soundtrack of Youth production workshop. The Colour of Life has steadily grown and has been actively involved in implementing and enabling community development projects, events as well as providing cultural consulting services to local government and other organisations.

The Colour of Life believes that through communication and connection with diverse communities from around the world, a true culture of peace and understanding can be fostered. Using the universal language of music, the Colour of Life hopes to transcend borders and barriers to touch the hearts and minds of people everywhere.

Established as an arts organisation promoting cross cultural exchange and understanding between Africans, their Diaspora and the rest of the world, The Colour of Life have promoted cultural and social inclusion in communities through educational programmes, events and music projects. We have also provided a consultancy service assisting schools, local and national governments and local corporations in developing cultural awareness programmes.

The Colour of Life has facilitated interactive workshops with internationally acclaimed artists such as Toumani Diabate and Julie Dexter and with African music and dance troupe Abladei, UK MC Breis,Ty and Malian Kora player Sekou Keita. COL has also co-ordinated programmes, such as African drumming and lyrical training courses, women’s well-being workshops and international youth conferences to celebrate Black History Month, World Peace Day, International Women’s Day and citizenship.