BOOK ON TRADITIONAL HERITAGE LAUNCHED

STORY: SEBASTIAN SYME

A BOOK that seeks to promote and educate the youth on sustaining the rich Ghanaian traditional heritage has been launched in Accra.

The 132-page book titled reinvention of Tradition-The Role of Theatre in the Self-Development of the Buem of Ghana, authored by Rev, Dr Elias Asiamah, of the Theatre Arts Department of the University of Ghana, used the lives and culture of the people of Buem in the Volta region to inform the larger Ghanaian community, the essence of sticking to tradition.

The Head of the Theatre Arts Department of the University of Ghana, Mr. Africanus Aveh, lauded Rev. Asiamah for the insight with which he came out with the book, saying that the department placed premium on research and publication.

He stated that though it was not an easy task conducting research and making publications, the department had made it a cardinal principle to put those areas at the centre of activities.

A renowned scholar on Ghanaian culture and tradition, Prof. Emeritus Kwabena Nketia, who was the guest speaker, described tradition as a dynamic feature that was relevant today as it was in the past.

Tracing his love for tradition to his youthful days, Prof. Nketia said he owed his opportunity to seek further studies in the United Kingdom to his mastery of Ghanaian culture when through one of his usual rehearsals of Ghanaian of music he came into contact with a foreign national who supported him during his trip abroad to study and secure a job.

Touching on reinvention of tradition he called on the youth not to do away with the rich culture and tradition the forefathers left behind but rather modify them by ensuring that they were relevant.

The author of the book, Rev. Dr. Elias Asiamah, who highlighted the title of the book, said reinvention of tradition involved the process of using the past and present circumstances to prepare for the future.

He chastised the youth whom he described as developing passion for western culture to the extent of neglecting their own and underscored the need for them to use their knowledge to re-invent what you benefit of the larger society

The first two copies of the books were auctioned for GH¢1,000 each.

*Source:      

                                                           Daily Graphic                    Page: 12                    Monday, December 20, 2010