By Mary Ankrah
THE National Theatre of Ghana (NTG) has begun repositioning itself to compete in the national and global market of arts and culture, the deputy Executive Director (Artistic) of the NTG, Mrs Amy Appiah Frimpong, has said.
In doing that, she said, the NTG would introduce new programmes and freshen the old ones to meet international standards as well as attract more Ghanaians to patronise its arts and cultural activities.
Again, she indicated that the NTG planned to focus more on it assets while using its potentials to make more productive gains in the Ghanaian and international market of arts and culture for continuous growth.
The move, she said, would enable the theatre to revitalise itself and be known for its quality arts experiences, strong educational programmes,conducive environment and friendly community space for audiences of all backgrounds.
“We should be the first place on everyone’s mind every time they look for something entertaining, educational or just sharing time with friends,” she opined.
Mrs Frimpong made this known at the launch of the 20th anniversary of the NTG in Accra last Thursday. The one-year long anniversary is slated for January 2013 to December 2013, and will be on the theme: “National Theatre at 20: Still the Hub for Culture and Artistic Excellence”.
It will be marked with various activities, including performances such as high life, drama, concert party, funworld, World Theatre Day and kiddafest, among other entertainment programmes.
Mrs Frimpong said as a result of its competitors, businesses were expanding and the National Theatre was losing some of its market share, hence the need to reposition itself.
She said efforts were also underway to reach out to members of the arts domain to consider the National Theatre as a preferred location for all their activities.
She, therefore, called on all Ghanaians, corporate bodies and organisations to support its creative process and vision to generate funds for its programmes and activities to make tickets affordable to all classes of people in society, especially those in the rural areas.
Speaking at the launch, the Minister for Chieftaincy and Culture, Mr Alex Asum-Ahensan, in a speech read on his behalf, stressed the need to integrate arts in the school curriculum to improve on academic performance and student discipline since arts had the potential to revitalise communities and promote economic prosperity.
According to him, the free and unimpeded access to the internet and access to foreign cultures through films, videos, televisions and the like were a threat to the Ghanaians culture, and as such needed to be protected.
"We must endeavour to sustain our own culture and adapt positively to change and pressure from whatever source. Our culture must be developed in such a way that it can withstand undesirable influences", he added.
Moreover, he pointed out that arts did not feature prominently in Ghanaian school curriculum and teachers who were charged with the responsibility of developing artistic talents also lacked the resources and empowerment.
Towards that end, he said the Ministry of
Chieftaincy and Culture would collaborate with the Ministry of Education, the
National Development Planning Commission, traditional authorities, civil
society organisations and other relevant institutions to craft an appropriate
policy that would seek to integrate culture studies into school curricula.
No comments:
Post a Comment