Monthly Archives: March 2013

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NATIONAL VISION AND THE ROLE OF CREATIVE KNOWLEDGE

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Written by Kwami Gudzi Agbeko, CEO Kraftotek

 

“Art is based on rationalization of vision” – Leonardo Da Vinci

In our bid to create a better physical, economic and social environment in our communities, we must tap into artistic experiences of merit, in order to achieve results which should serve as manifestations of the interaction between human creative resources and basic human needs.

There is a thin line between the “Art of Creation” and the “Science of Creation”. The former is the act or process of creative activity while the latter is the vital force behind the process. Art is the humane and civilizing agent in the process of creating things. Art is the process of making visible the invisible. Science on the other hand, presents and offers new perspectives to the creative process. In our national quest to create and induce positive change in the Development Agenda of Ghana, we need to come to terms, collectively, with the art and science of creation.

One cannot agree more with the assertion by Professor Atsu Ayee that “Leadership is getting things done. It is the ability to move people in new directions; lead them to places they did not know or they wanted or needed to go”. (46TH JB Danquah Memorial Lectures, Monday February 24TH). One may ask, which better method is there for making people see where they want to go, than visualizing clearly, the path on which to proceed? A picture, as it is often said, is worth a thousand words.

Our leaders may spew out volumes of economic jargons and numbers, but if we the followers cannot make any meaning out of these, we could hardly become champions of our own destinies. Consequently, we all get lost in this global forest and do not know which way to pass. We need to employ creativity to visualize effectively, the economic talk, in order to focus our collective mind on which way to go.

A vision, as the word connotes, is supposed to be visualized graphically for every Kofi and Ama to see, feel and share, as in the real sense of the word, not to be obscured in words and figures. National vision is the dream of tomorrow that needs to be designed effectively to achieve maximum delivery; the type of delivery that should enhance information flow, broader understanding of policy directions and coherence in handling governance issues across board. It takes a visionary conductor to bring out the best and cohesive performance in a musical ensemble.

The tendency generally is, for planners of our national development programmes to isolate Art from living experience. Most people tend to consider Art as a mere embellishment of an object without any intellectual value and not as a vehicle for packaging and projecting our national vision in a more graphic and comprehensive manner. In our part of the world, art and creativity is looked upon with a condescending attitude, whereas in the developed world, the subject is embraced as part and parcel of their evolving culture. The greatest restraining factor for technocrats whose role it is to transform our total environment is their inability to visualize their development concepts in effective graphic form. As a result, these concepts are hidden in voluminous documents, completely detached from the people, accessible only to a select few, who are forever pontificating on these concepts at the uncountable workshops, seminars and committees, punctuated by cherished tea parties, sumptuous lunch breaks and lavish dinners. At the end of the day, we applaud the grandiloquent words, leaving the works to fate and divine grace. Then we again prepare ourselves for the next Wordshop (workshop) at another cozy and exclusive location: a vicious cycle indeed. On the other hand, lack of proper visualization of our physical planning processes, since after Nkrumah, has resulted into the crude and chaotic situations that we find our cities and towns today.

Not too long ago, I had the privilege of watching with keen interest a presentation by one Professor Kwame Addo themed “Visions of Ghana, Dreams Designed for Development”. This presentation amply demonstrates the potential of exploring artistic experience for sensitizing our collective national psyche on our developmental needs and to facilitate a systematic framework and strategic approach to implementation of development projects. The package has been delivered professionally in a bid to graphically suggest in uncomplicated terms, the synthesis of ways and means to modernize Ghana and contribute to positive branding of our country based on factual data.

The “Visions of Ghana” presentation, initiates the audience into a world of seeing, feeling and sharing at close range, graphic representations that expose the vastness of resources Ghana is endowed with and the developmental challenges that need to be overcome in order to harness their full potential. What this presentation does to me personally, is to act as a catalyst, to help me develop the strength of personal commitment and say to myself that “YES, GHANA CAN”. The show stimulates in my memory, the persistence of hope for a brighter future. The complete presentation consists of a physical model of central Accra re-planned for the near future, audio-visuals and a large map of Ghana titled “I See a Land” as well as some models and pictorial renderings of built environments that he envisions from his dreams. Particularly, the model of future inner city Accra is an ambitious project displaying cutting edge concepts requiring innovation and boldness, designed to enhance circulation and inject sanity into the built environment of central Accra. The purpose of this presentation is not aimed at reinventing the wheel, but merely the employment of creative knowledge to visualize the varying development plans that have been lying on the shelves for all this time.The whole idea of this presentation is deeply rooted in the concept of creative development that seeks to activate a new spirit in the individual citizen and revive the much desired hope and cultural regeneration needed to effect a well ordered change in our total environment. It is a fact that true Art in whatever form, imitates and projects the quintessence of order, harmony, beauty and rhythm found in nature.

The truth is that as Ghanaians, we have not yet come to terms with our destiny as one people and to develop a sense of appreciation of who we are and what resources we have. Our mindset is massively blurred by partisan politicking instead of focused on ethical values of development. This awareness must of necessity, be profoundly influenced by the creative artists of the time. It is through this sensitization that a meaningful developmental programme for future growth can be achieved and shared collectively. Such meaningful visual analysis and artistic rationalization of developmental issues, form considerable basis for the thought processes that go into resolving development challenges in the advanced countries that we are so eager to catch up with. If we, Ghanaians, fail to recognize the crucial role that visual creativity could play in our national development agenda and instead allow visual illiterates with limited imagination to hijack the role of packaging and projecting our national Vision and Image, then we should be ready to live eternally with poor results. It must however be noted that a creative person may not necessarily be a visual artist. He/she may be anybody quietly wending his/ her way through life, who is set apart largely by his/her power of imagination and insight into the nature of things.

I have always been amazed by the sheer force of creativity in “Asterisk”, a nickname Professor Kwame Addo earned at the College of Art (KNUST) in the late seventies, before proceeding to Rhode Island School of Design in the USA, to read architecture and environmental design. The profundity of his power of imagination and freedom of thought, the critical observation of his immediate environment and his keen eye for detail, his intuitive feeling for form and beauty, his revolutionary mind and workman attitude; ambition, perseverance and a strong will for the expression of an aesthetic impulse, comprise the essence of his being. Professor Addo insists on tagging the “Visions of Ghana” presentation as a work of Art. However, I must be quick to add that it is not Art for Art sake, but art imbued with enormous purpose.

In conclusion, let us refresh our minds with this quote from Albert Einstein, “Imagination is more important than knowledge”. Imagination is, of course, the dynamic force that makes change happen in the world all over, more than static knowledge cloaked in decorative garments of MBAs, MFAs, LLBs, PhDs and so on and so forth. History is replete with imaginative persons, some of whom were ordinary folk, who postulated change in the world view and the way of doing things in their societies, but met with stiff resistance from the contemporary scholars of their time. However, the world eventually changed for the better through their daring ideas. Mention names like Leonardo da Vinci, Nikolaus Copernicus, Galileo Galilee, Gregor Johann Mendel, Otto von Guericke, Robert Mayer, Antoine Laurent Lavoisier, George Stephenson, our own Osagyefo Dr. Kwame Nkrumah, Apostle Kwadwo Safo of Chriso Asafo fame, the leading impressionist artists of the late nineteenth century and the great contribution of Gropius, Klee, Kandisky and many others of the Bauhaus School of artists and designers since the first world war. How long are we as a country, going to resist youthful imaginative persons with holistic views and pragmatic ideas and continue to cling ourselves to lackadaisical, haphazard and wasteful methods of managing our national affairs?

Once upon a time, there was a popular Bedford truck plying our roads with the inscription, “Time Will Tell” boldly written on it. Certainly, we have reached a destination as a people, where the signs clearly point to the fact that the time for charting a new and creative road map towards achieving our national vision is now! It is time for the Movers and Shakers of Ghanaian politics to grant the role of shaping our national development agenda to the Makers and Shapers of Vision.

kgagbeko@kraftotek.com

A previous article by the same author here

 

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Why all this bitterness and rants over rLG and the Chris Brown concert? by KEMIST

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Source: GhanaMusic.com http://tinyurl.com/b474m6h

CHRIS BROWN. PHOTO: GHANA MUSIC.COM

Chris brown was in Ghana on the 5th of March 2013 as the headline act for the rlg hope city concert. In my honest opinion, the concert was a very good one.

Now the concert is over and still some Ghanaians seem bitter over certain issues that I personally think is not pertinent enough.

Even before the arrival of the international Grammy winner Chris brown, it was alleged that he was being paid a million dollars to perform at the concert.

I say “alleged” because; I haven’t seen any paperwork or evidence stating the said amount of money that was paid to the Mr. Brown. This alleged price tag seems to have infuriated a lot of people, which I personally did not see why. Everybody knows Ghanaians are sentimental and all but the rate at which people are complaining and nagging/ranting about this issue to me is an insult to anybody associated to the organization of this program or event.

$1 MILLION DOLLAR PAYCHECK

First of all, Chris brown being paid $1million was not a donation made by rlg and the performance he gave was not done in appreciation of the amount of money rlg decided to hand him. Chris brown is an artist signed by SONY RCA record label and as such how much he charges for a concert is determined by these people.

He is a businessman who renders a service. About a month or two, Chris performed in Nigeria and ivory coast, did any of these supposed premier journalist who are having a field day with this issue bother to investigate how much he was paid by our neighbors?

Even if he asked for a million, the team he came down with (technical, talents and managerial) all had to be paid and if you are used to they way Americans do things, I’m sure they were paid by the clock (hourly).

Have the people complaining about the his paycheck considered all the monies he has invested in studio time, rehearsal space and time, choreographers, dancers, producers and songwriters etc. who have help him churn out all his number ones over the years.

Again, have people considered the number of “GHANAIANS” who directly or indirectly were affected by this concert? Event and entertainment companies whose business portfolios are going get a facelift? The number of citizens who were paid on that night because they rendered services, from the printers to the posters/tickets etc. to the ushers, security, national sports council, electricity company of Ghana and the Ghanaian government (taxes) to the little kid selling beverages on the field and in the stands.

LATE ARRIVAL

The press are having a field day with some of them sighting Chris brown’s late arrival into the country. The effect of this was the inability of the organizers to organize a press conference. Personally, I think it was unfortunate but it’s not an issue. Yes there have been other international artists who have visited and were in the country a day or 2 before the day of the show but has anybody considered the artiste schedule.

Any avert Chris brown follower would agree with me on the fact that he is a multi-tasked individual, who runs a record label (CBE), he is a music video director (check him out a http://www.rivetingentertainment.com) and an artist who has to beat deadlines provided by his mother label SONY.

An extra stay in the country, I’m sure was a luxury he couldn’t afford. Its alleged he was paid extra money to stay a day or two in Nigeria by a Nigerian citizen. Besides he was booked for the 5th of march to perform in the country and he did just that. So I seriously don’t see the problem here.

DEMEANOR

It was reported by some online blogs that Chris brown arrived in Ghana with a frown. Some say he was unexcited about the trip to Africa or Ghana because there was no tweet or Vlog or anything about him coming to Ghana. Like seriously? Being in this industry, one or two things I have learnt is that, it’s the job of the promoters to ask or demand for these things. Like in the case of some of the artist, a voice note or visual was made to help promote the event so if Chris didn’t do it I don’t see the big fuss here.

Chris himself sent a tweet that he is going off all social media application for a while because of how the media keep twisting is tweets and post.

The last time he posted a tweet was a promo tweet for his artist Sevyn’s new music video. Rick Ross was in Ghana and didn’t tweet a word or instagram nothing but I guess no one bothered.

SMOKING WEED ON STAGE

First and foremost, Chris brown is an excellent showman. He put on one of the best shows I have ever witnessed in this my short life. I guess a lot of people didn’t care about that, except the supposed smoking of weed on stage. People have really made a big issue about this and I don’t blame them for it.

I say supposed because of a lot of reasons, one being: Did anybody see with their own eyes the content of what he was smoking? I guess not. People; please let’s not defame anybody in an attempt to ruin his career because of our individual sentiments. I was at the concert and I remember him saying “let me light up this joint”. Lets try and look at this from an entertainer’s point of view. Chris was here to put on a show or an act.

The sequencing and choreography was on the day was made it evident its something they have rehearsed. He and his Dj even play some Ghanaian tunes, which to me was very nice and this help get the crowd hyped up.

Chris smoking weed on stage could have been an act, to keep the hype going. Whiles he was smoking, there was a mix of songs playing in the background, and this main reason why, his smoking antics could have been an act to make the show an exceptional one.

Micheal Jackson used wires to create an illusion that he could fly, some artist even light themselves on fire on stage and they are not being charged with suicide because its all a show. People are asking and insulting the police for allowing Chris to go scot-free after he announced he was smoking weed.

I applaud the police for keeping calm and not acting on their moral grounds but professionally. According to the criminal liable laws of the country, there is no mention of the word “weed” in there. Secondly, the weed is defined in the dictionaries as “A wild plant growing where it is not wanted and in competition with cultivated plants”. Thirdly, I don’t recall Chris announcing he was smoking weed, he asked how many people smoke weed and he used the word “joint” to describe what he was smoking. There are a lot of legalities here and I the police not reacting was a good decision else I’m sure the state would have been in a lot of trouble and I’m sure the story would have been different with Ghanaians.

Its very depressing when law makers come out to make condemning statements whilst they should be educating the legalities of the issue and encouraging the youth to stay away from narcotics.

WIZKID

So Chris brown repeated what he did in Nigeria, here in Ghana by bringing out Wizkid. MATTER!!. Ghanaians are infuriate at the gesture because he calls out a Nigerian and he performs a song titled “AZONTO” which is something that originated from Ghana and why didn’t he perform with a Ghanaian as in the case of Ludacris when he called out sarkodie and performed his how low remix. Well I’m not going to comment plenty about this but give a very simple and logical reason.

Wizkid is signed unto Akon’s Konllive/konvict record label. Chris brown’s manager, who was at the concert is “Bu Thiam” Akon’s little brother, Vp- Def jam recordings and co-CEO of Konvict Muzik.

So they put their artist on stage together because this concert would get international attention (internet/socialmedia) which is a good look for the label and the brand/image of the starboy. Wizkid performed Azonto in Nigeria, when Chris was there and there were no complaints as to why he performed a Ghanaian-produced song (producer-killbeatz) instead of singing one of his numerous Nigerian-themed songs.

They just appreciated the fact that one of their own shared a stage with an international superstar. Moral lesson here should be that Ghanaian artiste should step up their game, plan and work harder.

BIG FUSS?

So the question here is what is the big fuss?. The entertainment industry has been crying and wailing for external investment from corporate ghana into the industry and finally, this happens and look at the backlash rlg is receiving for getting involved with the entertainment industry. Have people considered the implication of all the money spent on the concert. The stage design in my view is the best I have seen ever in Ghanaian entertainment. This was possible because of the availability of funds. This is the same stage setup Musiga is using for their Music week.

My biggest boss STIP of solid multimedia made an observation about all this, he said, “ Now it is evident that, it’s possible for an artist to be paid 1million dollars for a performance so if his daughter tells him she wants to be a musician, he would out rightly encourage”. This is the kind positive mindset Ghanaians should take instead of bashing and scaring away possible investors. The entertainment business and morality is like oil and water, they can never mix. Let us commend rLG, Empire ent and Charterhouse for putting on a good show.

By KEMIST

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CHRIS BROWN: WAS IT WORTH A MILLION BUCKS? by Kwame Gyan

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Source: http://kwamegyan.wordpress.com/2013/03/06/chris-brown-was-it-worth-a-million-bucks/

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Chris Brown’s show was ok. It was not ‘wow’. There has been enough said about why rlg will spend $1M on CB whose popularity and clout has been as mixed and inconsistent as that of his relationship with Rihanna. Again, there have been questions about why a supposedly middle income state on paper but lower income on the ground will dole out a million bucks to a 23 year old who already has too much money for his age. But hey, you and I have no say in what Roland Agambire chooses to use his monies and his connections to do. For example, he has started that ambitious technology village christened Hope City. That is awesome. But apparently, the idea to bring in bad boy Chris Brown may not have been that awesome. The show itself was ok. CB did his thing; the dude is a good dancer and sings well too. I wont say he mimed. He sang along and did acapellas in between. His five dancers were good too. But Chris Brown disrespected the sponsors, the organizers, his fans, the crowd at the stadium and everyone with the remotest link to yesterday’s show.

LATE ARRIVAL

I have always detested foreign acts who arrive in Ghana just hours before their shows. I am told he was actually supposed to have been at the ground breaking ceremony for the Hope City which was done by JM last Monday. Of course he didn’t show although some members of his crew arrived at least three days earlier. Dude came in about 2pm.

TOO UNEXCITED

Before Ludacris came to Ghana he sent tweets about it. He said loads of things about Ghana before and after his show. Bow Wow, yes a little famous these days, also did same. Chris Brown did none of these. Maybe he is taking time off social media but there were tweets from his twitter handle about some other matters. You can say he does not run his pages himself but it is still no excuse. CB didn’t seem to care about his show here.

FOUL LANGUAGE & WEED SMOKING ON STAGE

I have become less insensitive hearing foreign acts using swear words. Too much of it though becomes irritating. We had our fair share of it last night. What on earth though was Chris Brown thinking when he asked the crowd if any smoked weed? When he started, a section of us booed. I began asking myself ‘what on earth is this boy doing’. Then when it seemed it was supposed to be some act, I thought, ‘ok maybe Chris is on some crusade to change attitudes’. I wish. Then he said ‘ if anyone is tripping cos you smoke weed, fuck them’. As if this was not bad enough, he pulls out a joint, lights it, inhales and exhales away. I was shocked to the bone. Where was security? They were there. Police, Military. I even saw a few Military Police. If they protested to anyone at some point then I am yet to find out. I think we need answers from rlg, Charterhouse, Empire. Who gave CB the weed? Did they know he was going to smoke it to a live audience which included loads of people under the age of 18? If he brought it down from the US then there is a bigger question on the status of our airport security. If he did, then perhaps we should start worrying about just how much illicit drugs come and go through Kotoka.

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WHY WIZKID?

When Ludacris came to Ghana he attended at least one radio interview with Sarkodie. During the show, it was Ludacris who introduced Sarkodie. And guess what, they did a remix to one of Ludacris’ hots before Sark continued from there. Chris Brown invited Wizkid from Nigeria to dance azonto with him. What kinda insult was that? We own azonto. Our brothers from Nigeria are trying to steal it and we seem not to have a say when this is rubbed in our faces? There was no connection between CB and Ghana. Dude did not even mention the company that signed his million dollar cheque for him, let alone promote the Hope City.

SECURITY

Aside our security people not been able to stop CB from breaking our laws on stage, they seemed not to know how to handle crowds after they have entered the stadium. Thing is, once someone enters through a designated gate, the person is thus entitled to sit at a specific location by virtue of where they entered from. It seemed like the misapplication of common sensej especially when they kept shoving and pushing people as though we were in some jungle.

LOCAL ACTS

I just think our local folks should learn how to finish singing their songs on stage. They start and stop midway when they feel like. We have always complained about the stagecraft of these guys. Aside Samini, VIP and Kwaw Kesse, and to some extent 4×4 and Sarkodie, the rest are really awful. They should respect our audiences and learn how to really entertain. Much as Chris Brown may not have awed me, no one can doubt his performance acumen. Can we say some for our local folks?

SO WAS IT WORTH IT?

Perhaps it was. But not for a million bucks and certainly minus the stupid and criminal antics of smoking weed on stage.

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