GRi Arts Culture 10 – 12 - 2002
Accra (Greater Accra)
10 December 2002- KIDDAFEST 2002, the Accra International Children's Art
Festival, was on Monday launched with a call on government to institute a
proper cultural policy that would help promote and sustain the cultural values
of the country.
Nana Kodua Kese,
Adontenhene of New Juabeng and Chief of Oyoko in the Ashanti Region, said a
proper cultural policy would not only ensure the preservation and promotion of
culture, but also ensure the creation of an endowment fund that would support
festivals such as the KIDDAFEST.
The four-day
festival, which would be held from the 19 to 22 of December, is under the
theme: "Our World without Barriers." It would serve as a platform for
children's artistic expressions.
It would be attended
by child performers not only from Ghana, but also from the sub-region including
Nigeria, Togo and Surinam. Children from Europe, South Africa and the United
States would also be attending.
Nana Kodua Kese said
the annual festival if well sponsored would encourage children to have
confidence in developing their artistic talents and be able to express their
sentiments about issues that affect them as children.
He said children were
often neglected from cultural festivals adding that Kiddafest had been the only
sustainable artistic and cultural festival that seeks to address the holistic
development of children irrespective of their socio-cultural and ethnic
backgrounds.
He urged both private
and public institutions to sponsor the programme to ensure its sustainability.
Ms Marigold Akufo-Addo, a member of the National Commission on Culture, said
world developments had made it necessary for a sustained culture to develop the
child's heritage.
She commended the
board of directors of Kiddafest for sustaining the festival for the past nine
years and called on District Assemblies, Chiefs and communities to ensure the
establishment of community facilities to enable the youth to develop their
talents.
Madam Korkor
Amartefio, Director of Programmes, National Theatre, said there would be
performances of both traditional and contemporary forms in addition to an
ECOWAS fashion show, ECOWAS Mock parliament and a Hip Hop theatre, among
others.
GRi…/
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