Australian Embassy celebrates Australian Day

The Australian High Commission, has marked the Australia National Day with an Arts Exhibition at the Nubuke Foundation in Accra, which would end on February 16.

Mr Timothy Millikan, Acting Australian High Commissioner, expressed delight to support ‘Yiwarra Kuju’, an Australian indigenous art exhibition, which means ‘one road’ in the Martu language.

“We have used ‘one road’ to bind the art, people and story of the Western Desert together, we use the Canning Stock Route as the meeting point, as the cross-cultural scaffolding on which to develop an understanding of Aboriginal Country, and the shared history that happened within it.’’

Mr Millikan said the rationale behind the programme was to share a bit of Australian culture with Ghana.

"We brought indigenous arts to Ghana and in doing so we also engaged Isaac Opoku, a Ghanaian visual artist to contribute to the exhibition with two pieces interpreting the stories and unique artistic qualities of indigenous Australian arts.

He said there was also collaboration with school children of La-Bawaleshie Presby Junior High School A and B who also produced some artistic work.

Mr Millikan said “visitors, regardless of their levels of understanding of Australian history, Aboriginal art or Aboriginal culture, can expect to be enchanted and learn from the exhibition”.

Mr Isaac Opoku in an interview with the GNA said he created a triptych called Akwantuo, meaning “The Voyage” in English.

He said the second piece Denkyem Asa, meaning “Crocodile’s Dance’’, talks about change and transition.

Mr Opoku said the piece communicates the idea that one had to necessarily adapt his thinking and his approach to create art in order to fully absorb and understand the meaning and aesthetics of Australian Aboriginal art.

Mrs Elizabeth Ofosu-Adjare, Minister of Tourism, Culture and Creative Arts in a message read on her behalf by Mr Edwin S. Owusu-Mensah, Director, Procurement, Protocol and Special Duties expressed happiness about the inauguration of the first ingenious art exhibition in Accra.

She said Australia host the oldest civilisation with people inhabiting the largest Allan continent for over 60,000 years adding that the cultural size in Australia such as ‘Uluru’ and ‘Lake Mungo National Park’ are among the most visited sites which have contributed to a vibrant tourism industry for the continent

Acknowledging the importance of our cultures and our shared histories, the Tourism Minister said “I am impressed by the efforts by the Australian High Commission to involve Ghana in the celebration by engaging a Ghanaian Artist, Mr Isaac Opoku to contribute to the exhibition’’,