Event to promote sale of African artefacts ends in Accra

An event to promote the sale of African artefacts in Christmas hampers has been organised in Accra during the festive season.

The African artefacts on display included textiles, basketries, beadworks, paintings, metallic beds, sculptures, jewelries, and african cosmetics.

These African products were made by some local artisans in Teshie and its environs.

The event, dubbed “The 11th African Gift Fair”, theme “African Renaissance 2025” took place from December 18 to December 28, last year.

The Chief Executive Officer for African Gift Fair, Stanley Felten, said items in hampers shared during Christmas mainly featured foreign products such as imported wines, rice, baskets and cloth.

He said the event was organised annually to “promote the inclusion of afro-centric goodies in Christmas hampers during festive periods.

The African gift fair calls for patronage of crafts products during festive seasons and all other occasion.

We need to shift from the usual style of purchasing hampers containing food and drinks toward projecting the local arts and craft industry”.

He said the event offered both Ghanaians and foreigners the opportunity to engage those local artisans while inspecting some of their art works.

Mr Felten noted that in the past, many people saw  those art works as objects inhabited by evil spirits or people keeping them in their homes as symbols of worship.

He however,said “now a lot has changed, with many locals now gaining a positive perception about the investment of such artefacts”.

Therefore, events like the African gift fair, he said, were very important to bring artisans and producers together to broaden Ghana’s arts and crafts industry to access a more expansive clientele in Africa and beyond.

The Director of the African gift fair, Teye Kitcher said the fair afforded vendors and exhibitors the opportunity to sell their wares to prospective customers during the festive periods.

He said it was important to project made-in-Ghana goods during the festive period, “so that Ghanaians can buy what we produce here and other African products instead of patronising 
western gifts during festive seasons”.