Two Civil Society Organisations,Artwatch Ghana and Board of Fashion Ghana, have petitioned the President of the Republic, His Excellency Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo Addo to make the Creative Arts a full ministry for more jobs. The Creative Arts have been downplayed in Ghana’s economic development in terms of job creation. The One-District-One-Factor agenda of the government is in line with the capabilities of the creative arts. “The Creative Arts cover wide expanse of vocations in both Visual arts and Performing arts. Vocations in the Visual art include sculpture, painting, furniture art, basketry art, jewelry, graphic design, textiles, fashion design and ceramics. Areas in the performing arts include music, film, theatre arts. There are several career paths under each of these vocations. For instance, fashion, textiles and garment manufacturing is a major industry that employs millions of people. In some of the fashion capitals of the world, after finance, the industry is the next biggest earner.”
There are many vocations in the sector which have not received the maximum support from government to be more productive as it pertains in other developed countries. According the two sister civil society organisations, “When the Ministry of Tourism was realigned through Executive Instrument (E.I. 2013) to include the Creative Arts, it brought some hope that the Arts would receive some facelift but the result has not been encouraging. We observed that the realignment of the tourism industry to the Creative Arts could not solve the predicaments of the Creative Arts industry since the latter receives little attention for its progressive growth than the former. It receives the least budgetary allocation and attention. But when the Creative Arts is not developed, our tourism will not grow, for it is a vehicle for tourism growth. Many tourist visit countries for the arts, fashion and music, it is a tangible asset of any advanced society. When the Creative Arts grow, tourism becomes a bonus in that growth.”
