Ghana needs a National Art Gallery - Akuoko Sarpong

Accra (Greater Accra) 10 Nov. '99

Nana Akuoko Sarpong, Chairman of the National Commission on Culture (NCC), on Tuesday reiterated the need for the establishment of a National Art Gallery to assemble the works of contemporary Ghanaian artists.

He observed that since Ghana's independence in 1957, artists such as Ablade Glover, Kofi Bucknor, Bartemeus and Amamoo, among others, have done a lot of art work which are scattered all over the country and elsewhere.

"There is now an urgent need to assemble their works in a very congenial place for people to have a one-stop view of such works."

He made the call at the opening of the first ever international contemporary art exhibition in West Africa dubbed "South Meets West" at the exhibition hall of the Ghana Museums and Monument Board (GMMB).

The show, which brings together 16 contemporary artists from seven Southern and West African countries at the initiative of Mr Niggi Popp, a Swiss artist, is under the auspices of the Swiss Embassy.

They are from Ghana, Cote d'Ivoire, Benin and Cameroon, South Africa, Angola and Zimbabwe.

The three-week exhibition is being jointly sponsored by the European Union, Nestle Ghana Limited, Goethe Institute and the Swiss government.

It is to create effective interaction among the artists with the view to establishing a cultural exchange programme that will ensure that peoples of the two regions appreciate each other's culture.

Nana Sarpong noted that though Africa has so much to offer in terms of contemporary art. However, prolonged colonisation of the continent made it impossible for its artistic potential to be made international.

Nana Sarpong said the government is seriously looking at this important project and would welcome any external support.

He, therefore, called on individual art lovers, donor nations and multi-lateral organisations as well as non-governmental organisations to support the government in the quest to establish a national art gallery.

Mr Fritz Baffour, Chairman of the GMMB, noted that though such contemporary Western artists as Picasso and Gauguin derived their creativity from African art, "the so-called experts in the developed world overlooked African contemporary art as too basic or primitive".

He was glad that the South Meet West exhibition was being held in Ghana, saying this accentuates the fact that Ghana, like other African countries, has been the Mecca to many artists from the Americas, Caribbean and Europe.

Dr. Peter Schweizer, Swiss Ambassador, called on the diplomats, Swiss citizens and the Ghanaian public to patronise the exhibition, which showcases woodcarvings, ceramics, batik, paintings and beads, among others.

As part of the three-week show, the exhibitors will interact with students from the College of Art of the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology in a series of workshops and seminars.

GRi../