An artist, Oni Onochie has called on stakeholders in the creative arts industry to as a matter of urgency, invest in the sector to drive the wealth creating power of the industry.
He said, that was the only way the country could boast of its creative and artworks which carried varied messages across all facets of life globally.
Mr Onochie, popularly known as ‘The African Artist’ said this at the launch of his four-day exhibition at the Nubuke Foundation Art Gallery in Accra over the weekend.
Themed “Africa Non-Fungible Token, Fungible Token and Web3,” the exhibition was hosted by African Arts TV.
“Web3” is an idea for a new iteration of the World Wide Web (internet) which incorporates concepts such as decentralisation, blockchain technologies and token-based economics.
Artworks exhibited ranged from sculptures to fibreglass and canvas paintings which bore themes including strength in unity, tribeless, strength of a woman and melody maker among others.
Mr Onochie told the paper that,art in the country was not profitable as compared to the western countries hence the need for this exhibition to get more Ghanaians to appreciate art and invest in it.
“This is to get my works out there and also get people to appreciate art more. I am leveraging my relationships with celebrity friends such as Bola Ray and Nana Kwame Bediako popularly known as freedom Jacob Caesarto promote the works and get their followers to also appreciate art,” he added.
Mr Onochie said the exhibition was also to generate revenue to assist his work and that of other artists as well as give patrons value.
The African Artist emphasised that, that could be made possible if everyone co-owned the work, adding that the “value of art does not depreciate but increases over time.”
He explained, that some of the materials including beads, fabrics, and plastics used in the artworks for the exhibition were recycled to create beautiful artworks.
Mr Onochie hinted that the next exhibition would feature other artists from all over the world and the artworks sold would be donated to charity.
“Concerning web3 we are looking at doing an exhibition with Block chain next year,” he added.
Mr Onochie therefore, used the opportunity to appeal to all stakeholders to invest in Ghanaian artists and their works as art was wealth.
BY ABIGAIL ARTHUR
