Accra, (Greater Accra) 17 Oct.,

The Accra Signature Gallery will give equal opportunity to Ghanaian artists, whether university graduates or not, to exhibit their work under its sponsorship programme, Mrs. Heather Badger, Manageress of the Art Centre said in Accra today. Speaking to the press after a sponsored painting exhibition at the Gallery yesterday, Mrs. Badger said there are emerging artists who have not passed through universities but their work is good and such people ought to be given the necessary encouragement to develop their potentials. The exhibition was mounted by Mr. Emmanuel Adiamah, graduate of the College of Art, University of Science and Technology, Kumasi. He focused on real daily market place situations. The Gallery which deals in gift items made from brass, wood and ceramics, has recently sponsored one of such non-graduates, Kweku Afrikaba, whose work mostly sought to promote topical issues such as immunization and cleanliness among others. Mrs. Badger said the gallery established two years ago recognises art as part of Ghanaian culture and can be seen as a "barometer indicating our free society because artists are free to give expression of what they conceive without any hindrance." The emerging free art market, she said, is an indication of what art could offer to the growth of the economy. Mr. Adiamah has also exhibited in Germany, United States of America and Cote d'Ivoire. He won the Mobil Oil Awards for the best Student in Paintings in 1985 and Best Student in Art Education in 1996.