Author and celebrated artist Ibrahim Mahama has called on educationists and people in authority to restructure Ghana’s educational curriculum to make art one of the major courses in schools from the basic level.
Speaking to Lexis Bill on Personality Profile on Joy FM, he stated that how art is perceived in the country has left the impression that the profession is not a “serious” one.
“Sometimes you apply for certain courses in the university, and when you don’t meet the cut-off mark, they put you in the fine arts class. That’s not how it’s supposed to be. That alone shows how we regard the arts as a country,” Mr. Mahama said.
He explained that in other parts of the world, art courses are as important as others, and thus applicants need to prove why they deserve to be given that field of study.
“It’s not every artist that is interested in the same thing. For example, an artist might be interested in using engineering, poetry, painting as a means of making art.”
Ibrahim Mahama urged artists to work together to help push their craft and change some of the perceptions people have attached to it.
He added, “the system has somehow taught us that we compete with one another, but we’re not in competition with one another; we need to build the society together.”
Source: Myjoyonline.com
