Dutch Gov't marks 300 years in Ghana

The Dutch government in conjunction with the government of Ghana and Ghanaian groups in Holland has begun the celebration of 300 years of Ghana-Dutch relations.

As part of activities marking the celebration in The Netherlands, the Gemeentemuseum in The Hague launched a fascinating exhibition of Ghanaian art over the weekend.

Its scope extends beyond the traditional art of the Akan peoples of Ghana to contemporary painting and photography. A wide-ranging display of fashion shows how African costume has influenced Western countries and vice versa.

A magnificent collection of Akan cultural items, ranging from wooden and earthenware, sculptures to gold and gilded objects, jewellery and textile art will be displayed in the rooms surrounding the fashion gallery.

These objects will be grouped in ten themes relating to Ghanaian culture: history, slavery, status and power, language, ancestors, fertility, parades, music, foreign influences, fashion and hairstyles.

Modern Ghanaian art is represented by three artists including the painter, George O. Hughes and photographers Philip Kwame Apagya and Francis Proven?al.

For the last six years, Hughes has lived in the United States, and his work is influenced by 20th-century European painters such as Francis Bacon. Apagya and Proven?al still live and work in Ghana.

Last year, works by Apagya were shown at Pleidooi voor Intu?tie (Plea for Intuition), the first exhibition mounted by Wim van Krimpen after being appointed director of the Gemeentemuseum.

The display in the fashion gallery reveals mutual influences between Africa and Europe. Fashion designers such as Sonia Delaunay, Yves St Laurent, Issey Myake, John Galliano, Louis F?raud and Gianfranco Ferr? have been inspired by colourful and rhythmic African designs, like their collegues in Ghana: Kofi Ansah, Jimi Delaja, Tetteh Adzedu, jewelry designer Kati Torda Dagadu en shoe designer Kwesi Nti. But the ties between the Dutch textile industry and Ghana go back much further.

The Dutch firm Vlisco has been producing fabric for the Ghanaian market since the 19th century. This cloth is used in Ghanaian traditional costume.

Each year the Helmond-based firm produces new fabrics and designs. As a result, Holland is a familiar concept in Ghana.

The aim of this exhibition is to raise the profile of Ghana, and more especially its art, in the Netherlands.

Meanwhile, Chronicle has gathered that the Minister for Trade and Industry and the New Ghana Ambassador to the Netherlands were present at the Launching over the weekend.