<<Print>>

A new group in Ghana�s entertainment industry has decided to pressurize political parties and their presidential candidates to show a meaningful commitment to promoting and projecting the arts in Ghana. The group, called �Voice Of The Arts�, has therefore initiated a project dubbed �No Arts, No Vote�, which is aimed at goading policymakers and politicians to include in their policies or manifestos ways by which they can help better the arts and entertainment sector in Ghana. Kwame Dadzie, the project initiator and an arts writer with Flex newspaper, told News-One that �Voice Of The Arts� had the basic aim of projecting the creative arts and entertainment.He said the �No Arts, No Vote� project was necessitated by the seeming neglect and marginalization of the arts by Ghanaian governments, both past and present.�Government budgets seldom feature the arts and entertainment and there has been laxity in the enforcement of copyright laws just as the teaching of arts-related subjects in schools has not been made attractive. �The project would, among other things, charge presidential aspirants to create, when they come to power, a vibrant arts and entertainment ministry, disparate from chieftaincy and culture, press on presidential aspirants to the 2012 presidential elections to state in their manifestos concrete strategies they would deploy in giving the arts a facelift, and charge presidential aspirants to, when voted into power, make the teaching of the arts-related subjects in schools more attractive and effective by employing the services of teachers who are well-versed in the arts and to put in place, measures that would help reduce the marginalization of arts students,� Kwame Dadzie said. According to Kwame Dadzie, although he was the initiator of the project, he would not like people to see it as his. �I want all stakeholders in the arts and entertainment industry to embrace this project. It�s not mine, even though it�s my brainchild. Trust me, if all would support it, it would yield massive result for the industry,� he said. �Already, my phone is inundated with calls from aficionados in the industry expressing their willingness to be part of the project and sharing ideas as to how this cause can achieve its objectives. This shows that the �No Arts, No Vote� project is laudable. And for your information, we have opened a group on facebook under the name �Voice of the Arts�. Please get yourself added and let�s discuss the way forward for the showbiz industry,� he further disclosed. He further pleaded with the media to avail themselves and dedicate airtime and space to the publicity and fruition of the project. The group is open to arts writers, musicians, filmmakers, painters, sculptors, fashion designers, models, recording engineers, dancers, arts writers, poets, novelists, publishers, radio and television presenters, artiste managers, comedians and all showbiz enthusiasts.