The Ghana Tourism Authority (GTA) in partnership with Afropole have organized the first ever Wax Print Festival as part of the 2019 Year of Return celebrations.

In collaboration with Untamed Empire and Streamline 360, the three-day event was aimed at bringing together African and Afrodiasporan businesses across the textile value chain to showcase the creativity within the industry.

According to Founding Curator of the festival, Ama Aboagye, the festival was also aimed at building a network of businesses for economic development for the black communities worldwide through partnerships and collaborations that leverage key competencies within key organizations across Africa and the diaspora.

She added that the festival was aimed at connecting Africa and Afro-diaspora businesses to connect and make more income specifically in the food, beauty and creative space.

“So we are really about how you bring the imaginative mind to life and how you innovate what you have. The purpose of this event is to bring attention to the fact that Wax Print is becoming very popular but people don’t understand the underpinning of how it started, where it comes from and even, is it really ours as Africans. So we wanted to host a film to really showcase does origins. We wanted to show how people are using our prints in other ways in the area of even interior designs”.

Madam Aboagye noted that the event also highlights the celebration of the ‘Year of Return’. She admonished the need to support the creative industry. She said there is the need to make people understand that creativity is beautiful and it adds to the economy of the country.

“The year of returns is a very symbolic time and a very good opportunity to go back in history to learn and celebrate our past. There are a lot of positives that are worth celebrating so we want to use this as a platform to reconnect both sides of history. But in celebrating this, we have outlined the whole calendar of events and this is part of it.”

He noted that with the quantum of money that the world spins on fashion and clothing brands, it is important that Ghana and Africa at large, promote the African print as well to build our economies and to project African clothing and African wear to the rest of the world.

The event witnessed performances from one of Ghana’s finest rappers Tricmatic, Worlasi MaaYaa, DJ Vim Tinz, Eff the DJ and many more.

Wax Print Festival is expected to be an annual event to occur in different African countries across the continent. The event was branded and marketed by Streamline 360 to reach a global diaspora audience during this Year of Return.

The festival presented fun experiences and a discussion on the growth and influx of the textile industry. It also encouraged new thinking on all of the diverse African textiles worn by African and Afrodiasporan people.