Ghana To Mount Democracy Exhibition In Gambia

Monday, 11 February 2013 17:33

(Accra) – Ghana is to mount a democracy exhibition in Banjul, The Gambia, dubbed “The Colour of Peace”, as part of series of events to commemorate the 57th anniversary of Ghana’s Independence.

The exhibition will highlight the transition from the revolutionary era to constitutional governance, the evolving role of the National Commission for Democracy (NCD) and the district level elections in the 1988/89.

A statement to the Ghana News Agency in Accra today signed by Paapa Nketsiah, former Public Affairs Director of the National Commission for Civic Education (NCCE) said the task of promoting democracy under economic and social hardships was enormous but rewarding.

He said the colour of Ghana’s democracy started in 1988 when a team of artists from a number of government organisations was put together to prepare materials for the district level elections of late 1988/1989.

Paapa Nketsiah, who was the head of the NCD's Public Affairs Department, supervised this creative team and uncovered the significant role of colour in Ghana’s democratic development through projection with colourful posters.
Banjul International Airport
According to Paapa Nketsiah the creative team noted that, “Brilliant rendition of colour could render Ghana's democracy very welcoming to the mass of the people, which could provide a firm foundation for the success of Ghana's democracy.”

Paapa Nketsiah was trained as an artist at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology in 1970s. In addition to contributing significantly to the development of the art scene in Ghana, he worked as a Public Servant for 20 years, lending his artistic and communication talents to promoting democracy, civic education and peaceful elections in Ghana.

Paapa Nketsiah’s art career, which spans the late 1970s till now, has been involved in one-man and joint exhibitions in Ghana, Nigeria, France and Germany.

He has a wide collection of works with some in the USA, France, Israel, Nigeria and Ghana.

The quality of his compositions and contributions to popularising art in Ghana has been recognised in both Ghana and abroad.

His works have been collected in some museums in France and have also been listed as an African artist by the Smithsonian Institute in the USA.

This is his first exhibition in the Gambia.

With his experience in the public service in the last 20 years, Paapa Nketsiah thinks that in Africa, one way of ensuring a stable democracy is for political leaders to ensure that the basic necessities of life are guaranteed to every citizen.
Source: GNA