MP Urges Revival Of Arts, Creative Industry

The Member of Parliament (MP) for Ho-West, Mr Emmanuel Bedzrah, has called for a revival of the arts and creative industry in order to create and leave a repository of relics for upcoming generations. He said the artefacts left behind by our ancestors could become a relevant source of history for those who were not born before the artefacts and could help them to appreciate their forebears. Mr Bedzrah was addressing a durbar prior to a photo exhibition mounted by the Volta Regional branch of the Ghana Museums and Monuments Board (GMMB) on some celebrities from the region in Ho. According to him, Africa had no history because of the lack of documentation, adding that exposure to some museums in the United States of America, United Kingdom, Asia and Germany had revealed that the arts and creative industry in the country had been neglected for far too long to the detriment of generations. He, therefore, called for stronger collaboration among the relevant agencies to revive the potential associated with the museum for tourism and historical purposes. The MP for Ho-Central, Mr Benjamin Kpodo, said streets and monuments must be named after heroes whether dead or alive to stimulate community action for progress, adding that naming would enhance visibility and serve as everyday exhibition since the heroes and heroines would have been immortalised. He urged the management of the museum to innovate to raise internally generated funds to supplement government subvention to deliver its services consistently and effectively. In an address, a German volunteer, Dr Gunther Rusch, noted that the management of GMMB had heiped to sustain public interest in the affairs of the board, adding that the dynamics of culture and civilisation in an era of modernity was inevitable. The Regional Director of the Volta Region Museum, Mr Alex Okpei, said the organisation was saddled with funding for effective delivery, adding that collaboration with local and foreign institutions had driven the institution this far. He said 18 celebrities were considered makers of civilisation in the Volta Region. The Chairman for the function was the Regional Director for the Centre for National Culture (CNC), Mr Emmanuel Kwao, who said material culture was preserved by museums and emphasised living in the past and the present. The exhibition was mounted in remembrance of the 18 celebrities on the theme: �Their past, our future.� They are: Michael Kofi Ameko from Peki-Dzake, a teacher, civil servant and special envoy for decolonisation and African liberation movements, Monica Abena Amekoafia from Alavanyo-Dzogbedze, a batik artist and first beauty queen of Ghana in 1957, Komla Amoaku from Ho, a musician, composer, artist and a further executive director of Ghana National Theatre and Ephraim Amu from Peki, a musicologist, teacher and catechist. Others are Raphael Ernest Grail Armattoe from Keta, a physician, author, poet and politician; Christian Baeta from Keta, ecumenical theologian, teacher and pastor; William Morris Beveridge from Port Glasgow, first principal of Amedzofe Teacher Training College, educationist; Noah Komla Dzobo from Anfoega, theologian, educationist and education reformist; Philip Comi Gbeho from Keta-Vodza, composer of the Ghana National Anthem and musician; Christian Hornberger from Germany, missionary and agriculturist. The rest are Ruth Annie Jiagge, Keta, first lady judge in the Commonwealth and president of World Council of Churches; Gustav Adolf Krause from Germany, researcher, scientist, linguist and anthropologist; Robert Kwami from Anyako, a founder member of the Evangelical Church and preacher; Margret Marquardt from Germany, retooled Kpando Hospital, missionary and ecumenical worker; Brigadier Joseph Michel from Peki, first Ghanaian to attain the rank of Brigadier in the Ghana Army and former chief of staff to the United Nations in Congo; Gottlieb Kofi Noamesi from Akpafu-Todzi, scientist, biologist and traditional herbalist; Esther Edua Ocloo from Peki, economist, industrial entrepreneur and food scientist; and Jakob Spieth from Germany, missionary, linguist/ translator.