Playwright and CEO of Image Bureau, George Quaye, has expressed his frustration with the prevailing attitude towards the arts in Ghana.

Speaking to Andy Dosty on the Daybreak Hitz Show on Hitz FM, he stated that the arts industry wasn't being appreciated and promoted in the country.

Referencing the case where the head quiz mistress of the National Math and Science Quiz (NSMQ) has made some unsavoury comments about schools "singing and dancing," George Quaye bemoaned the case where individuals tend to dismiss or devalue artistic contributions.

“We sit in a country where someone who is science and arts-biased will sit down and spit at the arts and when somebody complains, everybody says, “It's ok, the person didn’t mean it that way; what are you talking about? What have math and science done for this country?” he said.

Referencing the way Nigerians tend to unite and appreciate their arts, he cited discussions around Nigerian artistes like Burna Boy and Davido as examples of the impact of such support on the perceptions of the country.

“These conversations go beyond Hiplife, they go to the very fabric of who we are and how we never stand together. Do you think these Burna Boy and Davido conversations just happened out of a vacuum?

"Their people realised that, geographically, the perceptions people have about them are not good; if they were going to change that perception, it was through the arts,” he said.

Background

Quiz Mistress for the National Science and Math Quiz (NSMQ), Professor Elsie Effah Kaufmann while acknowledging why the Presbyterian Boys Senior High School - Legon (PRESEC) keeps winning the contest, said that the reason other schools don’t win the contest is because they would be singing and dancing while the PRESEC school would be seriously learning and preparing for the quiz.

Her comments sparked outrage from many stakeholders in the arts sector with many demanding an official apology from her.

She is yet to respond to the demands.

ID/OGB


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