Crafts and fashion products of trainees at the Kawukudi Community Youth Cultural Centre (CYCC) are being exhibited at the Sankofa Arts and Crafts Shop, located at the National Commission on Culture in Accra.
The exhibition is part of the CYCC’s ongoing 30th anniversary celebrations.
The products on display include waxprint clothing for men and women, beads, paintings, shopping bags, waxprint purses, beaded slippers, raffia bags and fans, T-shirts with African print designs, and shea butter packaged in calabashes.
CYCC’s mandate
The CYCC, which was established in 1989, focuses on responding to and satisfying the out-of-school recreational and cultural needs of young Ghanaians.
Initiated as a platform to provide vocational training skills in development, the performing arts, sports and related activities for the youth, it identifies and realises the inherent talents of young people, enhancing their creative and cultural abilities and assisting them to direct their energies to positive ends.
It also promotes patriotism, nationalism and co-operation among the youth, prepares young people to be a useful human resource for development, and aims to set the basis for the evolution of a youth cultural movement in Ghana.
Participants are trained in traditional and contemporary dance, drama, music, puppetry, weaving, embroidery, painting, pottery, sewing, batik-making, writing skills and sports.
Roots
Activities for the opening of the exhibition included performances, displays of fine arts and cottage crafts, as well as physical, cultural, literary and environmental events.
An important factor in the CYCC programmes is the local community’s involvement in the centre’s affairs and events. This creates a homely relationship between the youth cultural centres and local political, administrative and religious institutions, chiefs, parents, guardians, social clubs, and local people more generally.
The Honourable Minister for Tourism, Arts and Culture, Barbara Oteng-Gyasi, opened the CYCC exhibition formally late last month.
National Commission on Culture
The National Commission on Culture was established in 1990 by Provisional National Defence Council Law 238.
The Commission’s mandate is to manage the cultural life of the nation from a comprehensive perspective.
Its duties include promoting the evolution of an integrated national culture, supervising cultural values and performing such other functions as may be prescribed by the government.
Nana Abena Boakye-Boateng
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