Scholarship / BENEFITS OF DESIGN INNOVATION TO A COUNTRY, Ghana [3]

Hi Guys,

I just heard of this site and I feel privilege to join the pool of creative and intellectual people whose inputs, advice and suggestions can go a long way to contribute postively to someone's life. I hope to do that when my strengths and expertise are required and in the same vain I am counting on you to help me with a scholarship essay that I am writing for a MA/Msc in Design Innovation at DeMontfort University in the UK.

The condition for the essay is that I have to write about 500 words how the study of Design Innovation can benefit my country. What they are looking out for are ways in which the proposed work will increase knowledge about development issues and promote solutions to poverty reduction by looking at the economic, education, scientific and technological development among other things by liking it with any existing national development plans. In addition to that, I should also state how I am going to implement the skills that I attained.

Below is what I have written so far on the subject and I am counting on you for help. Thanks in advance.

Ghanaians take pride in perceiving Ghana as the ''Gateway to Africa'' because, her political stability, good climatic conditions and abundant natural resources make the country appealing to investors. However, there is a wide gap in the appreciation of Ghanaian products such that continued efforts by government to make Ghanaians and the global market appreciate, embrace and patronise "Made in Ghana Goods" has not had much impact. Ghanaians still choose to patronise foreign products.

My quest to understand this setback proved futile until last year when I began to produce a documentary series titled, "Visual Arts in Ghana" to explore the role of the Creative Arts in the socio-economic and cultural development of Ghana. I highlighted the various art forms ranging from Beads Making, Textiles, Painting, Ceramics, Sculpture and Photography where I interviewed about 60 artists, students, administrators of the various art and design institutions and governmental bodies for the series.

From the project, I realised Ghanaians had a lot to offer the world and make our lives better, but our artists and designers' inability to utilise the resources at their disposal effectively in a creative and innovative way, packaging and presenting them in a manner that meets international standards has constituted to the low acceptance of our cultural products. This is attributable to lack of knowledge and understanding of how to fuse creativity and technology. The situation is made worse by a dearth in business acumen to help meet the ever-changing market demands in relation to arts and design.

The country needs new, transformational ways of thinking and acting - an approach that embraces expertise from science, technology and humanities in design. Indigenous knowledge is not only from the past but it must be reproduced and redefined in post-industrial terms.

To this end, I intend to use my knowledge acquired through this course and other endeavours to start an outreach programme for the youth, designers and some of the semi-literates who produce the chunk of art products but have nothing financially to show for it. I will focus on innovation and business in art/cultural production for local producers to improve their work for the desired socio-economic benefits. I will work with some experts I met doing the documentary as well as the Ghana Academy of Arts and Science, National Commission on Culture and other local and international groups and individuals.

My first undertakings will include a 5-minute animation series based on the story of Ananse (the proverbial witty spider in Ghanaian folklore) to educate and inform people about the environment and its sustainability. I also want to teach 3D Animation and Graphics in film schools particularly my reputed alma mater, National Film and Television Institute, where the animation department concentrates only on 2D animation without even delving into graphics so the students find it difficult to secure jobs in media organizations because 3D animation has become the order of the day.

Through research and publications, I will endeavour to establish myself as an authority in the field and contribute to the pool of knowledge on the media landscape and the arts and design industry.

I look forward to hearing from all of you!

Thank you again!