Mr Peter Kofi Marfo, Ashanti Regional Director of the Centre for National Culture (CNC), has emphasised the need for Ghanaians to continually patronise and use locally made products to sustain the arts, culture, and history of Ghana.
He said although many people have recognised locally made crafts such as shoes, bags, clothes, and other architectural objects, that was not enough for the country, adding that it was important they continued to patronie the crafty designs, which identified the country’s culture.
Mr Marfo was speaking at the opening of the 2024 Art and Craft Exhibition at the CNC in Kumasi.
This year’s edition was organised on the theme: “Promoting Trade, Tourism and Investments in Ashanti Region: The Role of Asantehene’s 25th Anniversary Celebration”.
The 16-day long programme is partly being used to recognize the contributions of Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, the Asantehene, towards promoting culture and the peaceful cohesion among Ghanaians in the last 25 years.
The exhibition is also being held to promote Ashanti arts and symbols, and to help educate people to understand the tradition in the region.
Mr Marfo acknowledged the colourful display of traditional clothes during the peak days of Asantehene’s Silver Jubilee celebration and said it was the right thing to do.
This exhibition, he stated was being done to help bring out the talents of people who were into arts and crafts in the Ashanti region and Ghana as a whole.
According to him, people could use their knowledge to create wealth to boost national development and economy by investing in arts, crafts, and culture.
Nana Addae Gyamera I, the Chief of Feyiase Akoyem Traditional Area, observed that the Ashanti culture had become one of the perfect cultures in the world due to the way its arts and crafts were displayed.
He called on the people to immerse themselves in the culture and learn more about it because it defined who they were.
Nana Gyamera, advocated for increased patronage of arts and crafts to help project cultural lives.
Mr Francis Dwira Darko, the Kumasi Metropolitan Coordinating Director, appealed to Ghanaians to support talented young people to help build and promote the Asante culture and traditions.
