Promoting culture and creativity in Ghana: bottom-up strategies for creative industries development

ABSTRACT

The neoliberal turn in the cultural and creative industries has led to two distinct bodies of work. Global North scholars focus on the tension between the emphasis on the creative industries as an engine of growth and the unequal access to the means of cultural production and consumption that neoliberalism presents. Global South scholars face a different reality; the increasing inability of governments to provide institutional support, particularly finance, for growing these industries. This article documents grassroots alternatives to financial support from the state for growing a cultural and creative industry in the global South. Drawing on data generated from multiple sources about the work of two private institutions in Ghana, this article shows how private institutions and individuals can fundamentally shape the creative and cultural industries in ways that allow them to make their mark globally, even in the absence of financial support from the government.

KEYWORDS:

• Ghana
• creative industries
• neoliberalism
• private sector
• government
• Global South

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lTTdi8AjZg8 between 4:20 and 4:33 min.

2 The Provisional National Defence Council (PNDC), led by Flt Lt. Jerry John Rawlings, overthrew in a coup d’etat the people’s elected government People’s National Party (PNP) in 1981. In 1992, the National Democratic Congress (NDC) was formed out of the PNDC in the government’s bid to restore the country to democratic rule. The NDC government led by J. J. Rawlings ruled from 1993 to 2001.

3 Ibrahim Mahama’s parents hail from Tamale in the savannah region of Ghana. He was born in Tamale but moved to Accra at an early age to stay with his mother. “Hometown” in Ghana refers to the ancestral home of an individual.

4 http://www.sanatuzambang.info/2020/09/07/speaking-with-sarah-dorgbadzi-wife-of-agyeman-ossei-and-other-guests/

5 The autism puzzle ribbon is a ribbon adopted in 1999 as the universal sign of autism awareness. It comprises a puzzle pattern, which is designed to reflect the complexity of the autism spectrum. The puzzle has different colours and shapes to represent the diversity of people with autism.

6 https://hautefashionafrica.com/designer/papa-oppong/

7 The Gucci Design Fellowship is a fashion training programme that provides a learning experience for young designers from ten fashion schools around the world.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Denmark grant number 18-05-CBS for the Advancing Creative Industries for Development in Ghana project.