The Ministry of Tourism, Arts, and Culture has lauded the Accra Metropolitan Assembly for its efforts in promoting public arts.
This comes on the back of the Assembly’s third collaboration with the Ghana Association of Visual Arts to mark Ghana’s 6th celebration of World Art Day.
This year’s celebration which was held on Thursday at the Forecourt of the Accra Metropolitan Assembly’s City Hall was themed ‘Re-imagining Ghana’s future artistically’.
In a speech read on his behalf by the Director of Arts and Culture, Josephine Ohene-Osei, the Minister for Tourism, Arts and Culture said the immense support of the Assembly for the arts could not go unnoticed.
“I would like to commend Accra Metropolitan Assembly with the Ghana Association of Visual Artists (GAVA), Ghana Graffiti, VASEP, and Ulti-leaf Foundation for the celebration of the 6th World Art Day. The Assembly has been instrumental in the promotion of Art in Ghana, via public art.”
In 2019, AMA recognized the above artistic organizations for their effort towards the cause of making Accra a liveable city, through public art, for the beautification of open spaces.
Their immense support over the past years can’t go unnoticed. They deserve tons of commendation for their bold initiative and I urge them to keep up the good work”, he stated.
The Mayor of Accra, Mohammed Adjei Sowah who was elated by the commendation from the Ministry explained that the Assembly’s keen interest in the promotion of public arts is to expose young art lovers to the value of arts.
According to him, the general perception that visual art is a course for students who perform poorly in school must be changed.
He believes if art is promoted and pursued as a professional career, it could contribute significantly to the country’s economy.
“There are series of activities that we embark on, a public lecture that we also do with students who are doing visual arts. We are aiming that as we support the artists, people will come to appreciate that anybody who goes to school and learns visual arts, does not mean that he’s not doing well but that is also a career that he has chosen. Fine arts are also very good, it brings money and our educational curriculum and orientation must change from thinking that people who pursue visual arts are not performing kids”, he opined.
President of the Ghana Association of Visual Artists, Nana Otuo Otuoahene Acheampong urged the government to invest more in the arts and culture industry in order to reap its economic benefits.
“We believe that it is time that the government of Ghana begins to mainstream arts and culture in national development else we will still be struggling. Without that, we wouldn’t see our way clear and forward. Arts and culture should be incorporated fully and mainstream in national development. Our foremost agenda and plea and request are that the government should take the entire arts and culture seriously, begin to give it the needed funding and appropriate footing that they can stand on to work”, he said.
The representative of UNESCO to Ghana, Abdourahamane Diallo, also commended Ghana for signing the UNESCO Conventions of Culture aimed at protecting and promoting the diversity of cultural expressions.
“Through this historic agreement, the global community formally recognized the dual nature, both cultural and economic, of contemporary cultural expressions produced by artists and cultural professionals”, he said.
This year’s celebration had Citi TV as a media partner.