US Embassy awards culture grant to Ghana

Accra, 30, Aug. GNA - The US Department of State, under the Ambassador's Fund for Cultural Preservation (AFCP), has granted 29,450 dollars to the Institute for Music and Development (IMD), headquartered at Ho.

The grant is to establish an archive of Ewe music in recognition of the renowned patriot; teacher and composer, Dr Ephraim Amu and the composer of Ghana's National Anthem, Mr Philip Gbeho both of whose birthplaces are in the Volta Region.

A statement issued by the Public Affairs Section of the US Embassy on Tuesday said Mr Jerry Lanier, the Charge d' Affaires of the US Embassy and Professor Komla Amoaku, Executive Director of IMD, signed the grant document at a ceremony at the U.S Embassy in Accra.

Under the grant, the IMD would record traditional music and dance rituals still performed in rural areas of the Volta Region, translate important rituals and lyrics.

The statement said a website would also be designed to enable researchers, scholars and the public to access the collection that would be of historical significance not only to Ghana but the world at large, it stated.

It said the Volta Region was one of the most fertile regions for traditional music in Ghana where traditional music and dance rituals "are still performed in rural areas".

The statement said: "This is the second consecutive year Ghana has been awarded a grant under the highly competitive AFCP."

It said in September last year, a similar grant was awarded to the Dr. W.E.B. Du Bois Memorial Centre for Pan-African Culture to help preserve and restore the personal library and papers of Dr. W.E.B. Du Bois.

It said: "Each year, projects in only 50 countries are selected for the prestigious grants, {and) since 2001, when the programme began, the U.S Government has awarded 205 grants to projects in 96 countries, totalling 4.2 million dollars."