Art plays an integral part in shaping society and conserving history, and thanks to art, Africa’s glorious past has stayed intact. The inscriptions, carvings and paintings in the tombs of ancient Kemet made it so. What would Africans know of their past if not for these wall carvings, paintings and statues such as the Olmec?
Ghana today does not have a national gallery, according to a renowned artist, Prof Ablade Glover – something he calls a sacrilege. He says every society has a native-given creativity, unfortunately we have our creative thoughts westernized and thus resulting in our underdevelopment.
Art gravitates into every aspect of our life from fashion to architecture, film making to the creation of automobiles. Art plays a role in it all, but when you lose your native-given creativity you tend to copy. You copy anything and everything regardless if it suits your socio-economic conditions or not. It’s therefore not surprising that in a country as hot as Ghana the most esteemed outfit is the suits. If you fail to acknowledge the arts you would fail yourself as a unique being.
Study the current street art works and you’ll realize that the concepts are all the same. It’s either a mother and baby portrait, semi naked woman or a village scene which is devoid of our native intelligence and creativity. According to Prof Ablade Glover, art is an expression that has to come from within an inner thought and not from copying.
Prof Ablade Glover added that fine art if done is worth a gold mine.
Art is power and a society that fails to acknowledge it is doomed to fail
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