Patronise locally produced goods - Lecturer

Kumasi, Jan. 27, GNA - Mrs Vesta Adu-Gyamfi, Senior Lecturer and Head, Department of Integrated Rural Art and Industry of the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), has added her voice to the call on Ghanaians to appreciate and patronise locally produced goods particularly the arts and crafts.

She noted that traditional arts and crafts played a unique role in national development and it was therefore unfortunate that it was only foreigners, especially tourists who buy the locally produced art and crafts.

Mrs Adu-Gyamfi was speaking at the opening of a two-week exhibition on home accessories and furniture mounted by the Department of Integrated Rural Art and Industry, College of Art and a local artist, Mr George Mensah, on Thursday.

The exhibition is being organised by the Alliance Francaise of Kumasi in collaboration with the French Embassy in Ghana. Mrs Adu-Gyamfi indicated that the Department was participating in the exhibition with the view to integrating its works with the local entrepreneurs and industrialist to improve on traditional art and crafts in the country.

She said the more people patronised the art and crafts of the college, the more the talented young graduates from the college and outsiders would be motivated to improve on their works to enhance the development of the country and the industry.

Mr Mensah, who is the Managing Director of Deakin Company, stressed the need for people to go into art and craft as a way to diversify the socio-economic development of the country.

Mr Benoit Olivier, Director of the Alliance Francaise of Kumasi, said the school was committed not only to the teaching of the French language but to the promotion and development of local culture and arts. He said the school was prepared to collaborate with other educational institutions to promote and develop programmes that would bring about effective cultural activities to accelerate the development of the country.