KPANLOGO FOR PEACE FESTIVAL AND TEACHERS CONFERENCE IN GHANA

Come Celebrate Ghana

KPANLOGO FOR PEACE Percussion & T.I.P. Conference, a celebration of culture, arts, community awareness, and percussion music of Ghana and beyond is here again. A two weeks of explosion of percussive music, powerful choreographed and cultural dances, educational theatre, seminars, street performances and more , hits the Ashanti regional town of New Edubiase from 26th to 28th August, 2009 and at Mankessim in the Central region from 11th to 14th September,2009.

Kpanlogo for Peace Percussion and T.I.P Conference is a combination of two separate world class community programmes. It is a joint project of the Ghana Percussive Arts Society and the T.E.A.C.H.E.R.S International Project (USA). (T.E.A.C.H.E.R.S) is an acronym for Teachers Educating All Communities about Health, Environment, Rights and Security. T.I.P is an International membership organisation for Teachers and Educators with headquarters in USA. Its mission to collaborate with local communities to organise conferences and seminars aimed at creating awareness about global issues of concern.

Days of Percussion is a major percussive arts project of the world's famous music service organization, the Percussive Arts Society. Through sponsorships, local chapters all over the world host DOP to celebrate percussive music with a theme relevant to local needs. Ghana Percussive Arts Society, which is primarily the local host of this spectacular percussion festival christened the DOP, Kpanlogo for Peace Percussion Festival.

The Ghana Percussive Arts Society (GPAS) is the premier chapter in Africa of the music service organisation which has its headquarters in the USA. GPAS is dedicated to undertaking research into percusssion, documenting and the promoting of percussive arts culture in Ghana. The GPAS which has an open membership, organises percussive related events in many Ghanaian institutions and communities as well as hosts annual Days of Percussion in collaborations with a number of local non-profits. These events bring performers, teachers, cultural instructors and drum enthusiasts from all over Ghana and beyond to share the arts, network, inspire creativity, create awareness about the work of PAS and help to preserve and promote percussion as a valuable tool for national development and social change.

T.E.A.C.H.E.R.S International Project is the primary host for the conference which will highlight educating the masses about Health Issues, Environmental Concerns, Human Rights and Security Challenges. Other supporting organisations are the Edubiase office of the N.C.C.E, the Centre for Human Development & Social Change,Ghana, the Owoaman SPACE Institute and the Enyan Abaasa Mankessim Women's Association.

Kpanlogo for Peace, as a theme is being used for the second year in a roll, having used it last year to reflect the need for peace during the 2008 general elections in Ghana. KPANLOGO as all Ghanaians know is a reference to that special recreational drum played by the Ga people and its many cultural ensembles from the Greater Accra region. It is one of the most popular drums in our country and it also the most popular Ghanaian drum abroad. Culturally, the Kpanlogo is a communal music making and dance activity that brings people of all backgrounds together. As the country is ushering itself into a smooth transition in a post- electioneering year in Ghana, tolerance to opposing views and peaceful dispensation of our democratic practices and development is heavily dependent on peace. Kpanlogo, therefore, is a symbolic representative of all Ghana's cultural groupings and the need for unity.

Speaking to the media in the USA about the conference, Mr. Harold Akyeampong, the president of the Ghana PAS said "KPANLOGO FOR PEACE as a theme link for our conference is to make the Ghana Day of Percussion and the T.E.A.C.H.E.R.S International Conference relevant to our nation's situational needs and to reflect on, and drive home the importance and the power of percussion and culture in advocating and calling for peace in Ghana during this post election period and a critical time of our nation's political discourse"

He continued that, during these times, we should know that democracy thrives well when we are tolerant of opposing views and to realize that non-party members are not enemies.

According to him, many groups have confirmed their participation in the conference. Among the groups are Africussion Drum and Dance Company from Accra, Etsii Korowa Drum and Dance Ensemble, Obrumankoma Traditionals,Ebibiman Cultural Troupe, Nananom Dance Company, Borborfantse Fontonfrom Group, Kwaanan and the Kyidom Drummers, Roman Catholic Brass Band, Akrofuom Kete group, New Edubiase's Owoaman and Essereso Susubiri Adowa group. International representatives are coming from Guyana, Trinidad and USA.

Other highlights of the conference will be seminar on Domestic Violence, Health Education, and Security concerns such as the menace of armed robbery and how to ameliorate the challenges.

Major sponsors of the conference are the Percussive Arts Society, USA; T.I.P (USA) and the International Center for African Culture & Arts (USA). Other supporters are OBAATANPA House of Hope Inc.(USA), HighlifeRadio (USA), the Centre for Human Development & Social Change, Ghana and the Adansi-South District Assembly.

Visit the Website for more information:
http://pas.ghana.tripod.com/ghanadayofpercussion2008/

www.pas.org