Former Head of Visual Arts at the Centre for National Culture, Kizito Nii Amarh Amartey, has called on the Ghana Museums and Monuments Board to collaborate with Ghanaian artists in the preservation of our culture and heritage.
Speaking at the second edition of an Arts exhibition dubbed ‘Contemporary_emerge,’ on Saturday, December 9, 2023, Mr Amartey, voiced concerns over how Ghana is gradually losing its cultural identity.
He noted that with the advent of various modern appliances like blenders, fufu pounding machines, cooking stoves, etc., traditional kitchen utensils that were once highly regarded and emblematic of our society, such as the grinding stone, mortar, and pestle, are gradually losing their value and could soon become extinct.
In light of this, he charged the Museums and Monuments Board to ensure the preservation of this precious heritage.
“Over the years, my experience in other museums is that, just by walking into a museum, you could tell the culture, you could tell the history, and the values of the country. In our part of the world [Ghana], we’ve had some facelift of our museum, but I think we still lack some pertinent ingredients.
“Museums are not supposed to only capture and preserve things that are going extinct, but also what is it that the country is cherishing today. We have to explore all the regions so that our museum is well-represented. Secondly, I’ll be happy that a broader spectrum of artists are engaged so that we don’t only preserve history, but we also look at what is happening in the contemporary sense,” he noted.
Kizito’s call adds to the myriad of voices advocating for the preservation of Ghana’s culture. He strongly believes one way this can happen is through collaboration between key stakeholders in the sector.
As a means of contributing his quota to this cause, Kizito launched his latest masterpiece, “Mukasi,” which is a remarkable artwork that ingeniously incorporates local kitchen elements such as the kitchen stool, earthenware pot, mortar, pestle, and more, at this year’s edition of Contemporary_emerge.
Contemporary_emerge is a dynamic platform for emerging artists to showcase their innovative works and perspectives.
It was established by Kizito Nii Amarh Amartey to spotlight the evolving trends and voices within the contemporary art scene as well as provide a space for artists to present their creative expressions, engage with diverse themes, and contribute to the cultural discourse.
Ten young talented Ghanaian artists; Ernest Boafo, Suzzy Owusu Boadi, Judith Edem Quansah, Adam Tata Dasagbor, Lilian Asiamah, Asiedu Edward Ankomah, Adel Emefa Dogbe, Gregory Adjei Kumah and Jerome Cudjoe, were also prominently featured and celebrated at this year’s edition of the Contemporary_emerge Arts Exhibition.
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