Ghana Culture Day goes well
Finally, vintage highlife ended an incredible day, which saw Ghanaian heritage and culture duly celebrated.
It was a great emporium which featured a culinary exhibition presenting some of our rather delectable indigenous snacks and cuisine, contemporary visual art by such artistes as Adwoa Amoah, Serge Attukwei Clottey and the guy who wrapped the entire National Theatre recently in used charcoal sacks, Ibrahim Mahama!
Held in collaboration with the Ministry of Tourism, Culture and Creative Arts and a number of partners, every March 14 is set aside to highlight Ghana’s rich cultural heritage and creative industries.
This year, it was under the theme “Ghana Culture on the Move: The Economic Impact of the Arts and Culture on National Development”
What a great future Ghanaian culture has, if more of our history and heritage will be interfaced in dialogue as was done last Monday at the fourth Ghana Culture Day organised by the Ghana Culture Forum, a membership-based civil society consultative and advocacy network of cultural practitioners, activists and organisations.
It was an exciting new era as the old guard sat and listened to Spoken Word performances by the younger generation, to such dynamic young acts as Paul ‘100%’ Forjoe Jnr, who opened the morning of discourse with his verse in which he relays a Whatsapp message he says Mother Ghana sent him! Full of words of wisdom, he got such cultural luminaries like Kwaw Ansah and Akorfa Edjeani listening attentively.
This was in the morning, at the lobby of the National Theatre during the celebration of the daylong activity of events dubbed ‘Courtyard of Cultural Interaction and Expressions’.
Here, members of cultural domains and practitioners held discussions on the future of culture within the context of national development. The interaction at the forum and different artistic programmes were all aimed at promoting the appreciation of the necessity of mainstreaming culture in national development.
It also provided the opportunity for sharing ideas on policies and actions in the sector and drew important linkages and relationship between culture and other sectors of national development as we engage in the consultations for a long-term development plan for Ghana. The keynote address was by the chairman of National Development Planning Commission, Dr Nii Noi Thompson.
Activities for the day, which included an insightful discourse on fashion by the Ghana Fashion Forum, was climaxed with a “Tribute to Fallen Heroes in Arts and Culture” showcase where icons Chez Julie and Kofi Ansah, were among those remembered.
Performances by various groups and artistes filled the theatre auditorium in the evening, which culminated in highlife veteran, Smart Nkansah taking over the stage and moving a few of the older folk present to dance.