Specially crafted 'Dadesen' ready for 2018 GMB queen

All is set for the crowning of the 2018 Ghana’s Most Beautiful queen on Sunday, December 9 at the National Theatre The four finalists – Ohema from the Brong Ahafo Region, Eastern Region’s Abena, Ashanti Region’s Afrah and Wekia from the Upper East Region are ready to thrill fans at the Grand Finale.

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And the coveted GMB seat to accommodate the queen is all set and ready for whoever emerges as winner. As a competition focused on promoting Ghana’s indigenous culture, it is not surprising that organizers fell on an indigenous artist in Ghana to make the seat for the queen. Tagged the ‘Dadesen Beauty Queen Seat’, the chair has been presented to TV3, organizers of the beauty pageant, to support the company’s drive to promote Ghana’s cultural values and heritage. The seat was developed by three students of the Department of Integrated Rural Arts and Industry at KNUST, Angela Addai Boadu, Theophilus Annor and Eunice Arthur-Cole. ‘Dadesen’ is a cooking utensil used across Ghana, and it used to be the commonest utensil and storage facility in every typical Ghanaian home. It is commonly used for cooking and storing food items. The beauty queen’s seat is to help in creating awareness, both locally and internationally, about the existence and versatility of the locally cast aluminum pieces. The Metal Section at the Department of Integrated Rural Arts and Industry at KNUST, led by Dr. Kafui Kwesi Agyeman, decided to use the ‘dadesen’ for the beauty queen’s seat to showcase how versatile the cooking utensil can be. Dr. Kwesi Agyeman says the GMB platform would be a canon to the realization that the ‘dadesen’ can be used in the production of other pieces such as furniture. “The ‘dadesen’ has a peculiar shape that depicts the beauty of the Ghanaian woman, so we said let’s use the ‘dadesen’ as the seat that the beauty queen will sit on and God being so good the programme GMB is in line with that,” he said. Angela Addai Boadu who is one of the creators of the seat, is excited about the outcome after six months of production. “This is pure handiwork…The passion is to let everyone know that we have this culture and have to maintain it. And another passion is that we wouldn’t want the local craftsmen to go out of business,” she said. It is envisaged the ‘Beauty Queen Seat’ will open an avenue for ‘dadesen’ craft production which will consequently increase the market demand for ‘dadesen’ and other related locally cast aluminium wares. “The Rural Art Department was set up to extend traditional forms and ideas in the visual arts into the contemporary. We encourage students to think beyond the box and developing this ‘dadesen seat’ for GMB is symbolic,” Dean of the Faculty of Art, Dr. Kari Kacha Seidou said. A representative of Media General, operators of TV3, Faustina Dery, who took delivery of the seat on behalf of the company, commended the students and leadership of the Department of Integrated Rural Arts and Industry at KNUST for buying into the GMB concept and supporting TV3 to promote Ghana’s culture and tradition. The seat is therefore set for the GMB queen as all four finalists gear up for the Grand Finale in Accra. Tickets are fast selling at TV3 premises, Airport Shell and Batsona Total. By Kofi Adu Domfeh| 3news.com|Ghana]]>