Record of meeting between His Excellency Dr. Nyaho Nyaho-Tamakloe and the director of the museum of African arts in Belgrade, Mrs. Narcisa Sijan
As part of his efforts to deepen cultural relations between the Republics of Ghana and Serbia and Montenegro, His Excellency Dr. Nyaho Nyaho-Tamakloe, on Monday, 22nd May, 2006, granted audience to the Director of the Museum of African Arts in Belgrade, Mrs. Narcisa Sijan.
After the usual exchange of courtesies, His Excellency invited the Director to make her presentation. In obliging His Excellency, the Director began by presenting His Excellency with two sets of books on Ashanti history and culture, a Compact Disc (CD) and a catalogue containing the profile of the Museum and its activities, prior to commencing her presentation. The Director expressed her gratitude to His Excellency for the audience. She then stated that the strategic location of the Museum in the middle of the Balkans placed it in an advantageous position to better portray Africa in a good light despite the financial difficulties the Museum had been encountering since 1988. The Director disclosed, with pleasure, that she became the first Curator of the Museum upon its establishment in 1977, and was currently in her second four (4) year term as Director of the Museum which receives financial backing from the Belgrade City Hall.
Relations between museum and African missions in Belgrade
Regarding the relations between the Museum and the ten (10) African Missions based in Belgrade, the Director noted, with satisfaction, that it was a ‘special one’ which kept improving year after year. She extended an open invitation to His Excellency to visit the Museum at his convenience to see, at first hand, activities being undertaken there.
The Director hinted that she had had a long-standing relation with Africa having visited and studied in Angola, Egypt, Kenya and Zambia, previously. She then proposed to present to His Excellency, in the shortest possible time, a write-up on Ashanti culture and history. The Director also reminded His Excellency of an upcoming three-day African Festival which would be climaxed with a durbar on Sunday, 25th June, 2006.
Concluding, the Director assured His Excellency that, next year, her outfit would solicit the support of the Serbian Ministry of Culture in inviting a Ghanaian/African Cultural Group to perform at the African Festival in Belgrade.
Remarks by His Excellency
In his response, His Excellency expressed satisfaction at meeting the Director of the Museum and noted that the Government of Ghana takes keen interest in cultural issues hence the creation of a whole Commission headed by a former University Professor, to oversee cultural activities of the country. He proposed the possibility of exchange of visits between Ghana and Serbia to share knowledge and expertise in the field of culture.
His Excellency also shared the Director’s opinion about the holding of an exhibition on Ashanti culture and further suggested that the exhibition could be punctuated with cultural heritage of other ethnic groupings from Ghana. He noted that Ghana had a unique cultural heritage relative to other cultural groupings in Eastern and Southern Africa. His Excellency attributed this to the long-standing and early contact with British colonial rule and illustrated this with the portfolio of State Linguist which was created soon after attainment of independence.
Concluding, His Excellency invited the Director to visit West Africa and Ghana, in particular to observe the rich cultural heritage that abounds there. He further pledged the support of the Mission to the Museum of African Arts in Belgrade for its programmes and activities and thanked the Director of the Museum for the courtesy call.
