Creator Of Adinkra Symbols Celebrated In Sunyani. Activities honouring the memory of the chief who is credited with the invention of the famous Adinkra symbols about 200 years ago have begun in the Brong Ahafo Region.
The late Gyamanhene, Nana Kwadwo Adinkra, invented the Adinkra symbols which have today become a proud Ghanaian heritage.
The activities started with the maiden annual Adinkra Lecture organised by the chiefs and people of the Suma Traditional Area in Sunyani yesterday.
Apart from honouring the memory of Nana Adinkra, the lecture will also recognise and celebrate the legendary works of Ghanaians that have made a positive impact on society.
Symbol
In a speech read on her behalf at the lecture, the Minister of Tourism, Culture and Creative Arts, Mrs Elizabeth Ofosu-Adjare, said she considered the symbolism of Adinkra very profound.
“It encompasses the entirety of our value systems, our political, social and economic organisation, traditions and contemporary manifestation of development and nationhood,” she said.
The minister described Adinkra as a central cultural heritage of Ghana and key product which would be promoted not only in Ghana but internationally.
“I wish to assure you that we will pursue programmes that will enable Ghana to take full advantage of its cultural heritage in the global tourism context,” she indicated.
Mrs Ofosu-Adjare added that the government would pursue policies geared towards the restoration of national culture.
Education
She called for the institution of cultural education that would enable Ghanaians to appreciate the moral, ethical and aesthetic values of culture.
“There is the erroneous notion that sees culture as simply inherited institutional practices and beliefs from the past. Culture is seen in terms of specific artifacts such as masks and bracelets,” she observed.
She said it was to correct that notion that efforts were being made to move culture from the peripheral to the centre of national development policy.
Lectures
The Brong Ahafo Regional Minister, Mr Eric Opoku, said the institution of the lecture series would provide opportunity for the country to re-strategise and harness available resources to effectively meet the development aspirations of the people.
He called for public and private investment in culture.
Change
The Dean of the School of Performing Arts, University of Ghana, Professor Kofi Agyekum, said Ghana needed a system of education that would prepare the youth to fit into society.
“Our educational system should relate to the values of the society we want to develop,” he said, adding that “proper education is the type that trains people to be full of morality”.
According to him, “until we decide to accept our culture as the basis of our education, we will continue to beat about the bush”.
He chastised politicians for continuously experimenting with the duration of the country’s educational system and toying with the aspirations of the youth.
The Suma Manhene Odeneho Dr Affram Brempong expressed the hope that the event would be used to educate the people about the country’s rich heritage.
[…] statue is in the form of the Sankofa emblem, which is one of the traditional Adinkra symbols and is represented culturally by a bird that has […]