Ghana Showcases Paintings, Artifacts In Moscow

On September 16, 2015, His Excellency, Dr. Kodzo K. Alabo, Ghana's Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to the Russian Federation & Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) will open one-week long decorative art exhibition, a collection of artworks by six famous Ghanaian artists, inside the main building of International Gymnasium in Moscow.

In an official press release to GhanaWeb, the exhibition being organized by the Embassy of the Republic of Ghana in conjunction with the Moscow Municipal Administration, the United Russia (All-Russian Political Party) and House of Africa, aims at promoting Ghanaian culture and creating public awareness about the country as well as strengthening people-to-people friendship. Some of the activities lined up as part of the week-long programme include master classes and traditional musical shows.

The release further listed high-powered politicians as invited guests, staff of the Municipal Administration and the Moscow International Gymnasium and the cultural community. Officials including Anton Zharkov from the State Duma (Lower House of Parliament), Alexander Smetanov and Andrei Metelisky both from the Municipal Assembly (Regional Parliament) as well as Ghanaian artist Kofi Agorso are expected to give speeches at the opening ceremony. DJ Sofi from the Republic of Congo will also offer the gathering traditional music and songs.

According to the artists’ biographies, they have travelled throughout Africa and the world. They have been at the forefront of Ghana's art scene, working relentlessly and with dynamism to uplift the art culture, for several years.

Ahead of the event, Larry Otoo, on behalf of his colleagues, has expressed high appreciation for the assistance by the ambassador and his staff of the Embassy of the Republic of Ghana by engaging them to showcase their paintings and artifacts collectively to Government officials, artlovers and general visitors in Moscow.

“We are really delighted that the Embassy of the Republic of Ghana in Moscow has offered this assistance to showcase our artworks and promote Ghanaian culture to a cross-section of the Russian public,” Larry Otoo said in remarks by email. “We have appreciated the level of interest and enthusiasm expressed by the staff, organizations and individuals in helping to achieve this goal of popularizing our country, for the first time in June and now this September in Moscow.”

On the initiative of the Ghana’s Ambassador (H.E.) Dr. Alabo, the first art exhibition by six famous Ghanaian artists, among them Wiz Kudorwor, Kofi Agorso and Larry Otoo, was mounted in Moscow and Saint Petersburg last June. It was part of the African Cultural Festival (AfroFest2015) that provided a platform for some of the festival attractions such as exotic food shows, traditional arts and crafts exhibition, exclusive fashion collections, cultural workshops and master classes as well as film shows.

Important to recall that in June, Dr. Kodzo K. Alabo explained the presence of the famous Ghanaian artists at the AfroFest2015 as “a true reflection of their collective enthusiasm, interest and commitment in helping to strengthen friendly cultural relations with Russia.”

Some of the African countries represented at that festival included Benin, Cameroon, Congo, Djibouti, Ghana, Ethiopia, Kenya, Nigeria, Mauritius, Madagascar, Rwanda, South Africa and Zimbabwe.