Ghanaian festivals as a resource for art education

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Date
2004-11-21
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Abstract
The organisation of social life in indigenous societies gives special place to a festival, for there is a general consciousness of its potential as a vehicle for communicating or affirming the values of a society and strengthening the bonds that bind its members. Festivals are very important occasions, ceremonies and rituals which perineate the rhythm of the earthly life of a people in question. Festivals are of historical (commemorative), harvesting (harvest and post harvest) and for the gods. Art is actively and inseparably interwoven with the life of man. The arts therefore play a predominant role in the celebration of our festivals. The visual arts, performing arts, body arts and verbal arts which contain records of achievements of a people come into play. For example, the rich stool regalia of the various ethnic chiefs and the sculptures, such as the spokesmen’s staffs do provide us with much knowledge about our traditional culture. The festival celebration is a process of passing on the cultural values from one generation to another but unfortunately the youth do not fully participate in these activities or have little understanding of the values and symbolic functions of much of the imagery of the past. This has resulted in an upward degeneration of artform usage among the youth. The need to go back and pick up the gems of the past as the ‘Sankofa’ symbol depicts, calls for the strengthening of institutions that promote the authentic cultures of Ghana such as festivals.
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A Thesis report submitted to the School of Graduate Studies in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the Doctor of Philosophy Degree in Art Education, 2004
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