Okyeame Kwame was among a number of dignitaries that graced the occasion
Telling Tall Stories, the annual thought leadership seminar by The Kuenyehia Trust for Contemporary Art made quite a statement with its theme this year: 'E Be Art We Go Chop! The Role of Arts & Cultural Entrepreneurs in Developing Ghana'.
The diverse panel made up of musician and cultural icon Okyeame Kwame, award wining fashion designer Bee Arthur, veteran actress and cultural activist Dzifa Gomashie, and Comfort Arthur,1st runner-up of the 2018 Kuenyehia Prize for Contemporary Ghanaian Art, shared their opinions and experiences with Michael Amaning of Invest in Africa steering the conversation.
The seminar held at the African Regent Hotel and supported by MTN Ghana Foundation explored the contribution of the Ghanaian arts and cultural industry to the economy. Its contributions, challenges and huge potential in the trending entrepreneurship drive in the country in recent times.
The panel was categorical that their artistic disciplines were without a shadow of doubt the source of their bread and butter but found it disturbing that the environment made success unnecessarily harder to achieve.
Dzifa Gomashie remarked that “unfortunately in Ghana you don’t learn about the business of art at an early age, you learn about the passion of art”. Having been a former Deputy Minister of the then Ministry of Tourism, Creative Arts and Culture she advised that artists from the different artistic disciplines unite to become a force to reckon and work with the current ministry to push for changes that would create the enabling environment and structures for the arts to thrive and contribute even more significantly to the country’s development.
Okyeame Kwame and artist Kofi Setordji shared similar sentiments about how the very nature of artists made it sometimes difficult for their associations to thrive. They were of the view that art managers and other stakeholders should take up the cause so artists can focus on expressing their art.
The evening was a mix of highs and lows with Comfort Arthur describing the gains made in animation on the African continent in the face of challenges like funding and Bee Arthur calling out the private sector for not investing more in the arts as is done in advanced countries. She was resolute that the economic sphere cannot exist without art.
In its third year, Telling Tall Stories is convened by the Kuenyehia Trust for Contemporary Art to contribute to efforts to refocus intentional attention on the arts in policy and
practice in Ghana.
