Accra, May 15, GNA-The splendour and flamboyance of the rich Ghanaian and African bead jewellery was at its best at a fashion show in Accra on Saturday.

Choreographed by Myriam Verne, bead designer, elegant models displayed the whimsical and colourful varieties of beads as they cat walked through the central pavement of the Kwame Nkrumah Memorial Park. The event, which drawn curtain on the 10th anniversary celebration of the Ghana Beads Society was attended by diplomats and dignitaries of many nationalities as well the public, who shared the love of beads and the care of Ghana's culture.

Mrs. Trish Graham, chairperson of the Ghana Beads Society, narrating the idea that mooted the formation of the society said in 1994, some European expatriates discovered the fading culture of beads and initiated a new consciousness.

She said they began to by recording and sensitising the public on the significance of bead wearing, trading as well as its value in family collections.

Mrs Graham noted that the society took the step at the time when vast quantities of beads were siphoned out of the West African Coast to collectors and traders around the world.

She said since the formation of the Society, it had sustained the value of Ghanaian and African beads and had featured it at both national and international shows that gave the artefact a new outlook. The Society was recently funded by the US Ambassador's Fund for cultural preservation to refurbish the Museum of Archaeology at the University of Ghana, Legon and to establish a permanent display of beads.

Mrs Graham also indicated that the members had jointly produced a book entitled, 'The Bead is Constant,' which contained the life stories of 14 bead makers, wearers, and traders as well as scholarly articles about beads and their production.

Fifteen Bead designers displayed their wears, which reflected the dynamic mix of cross-cultural influences that informed contemporary African art.