Former U.N. Secretary General, Kofi Annan, on Wednesday opened the Artists Alliance Gallery at the Omanye House in Accra with a call on Ghanaians to take fine arts seriously because it exhibits one’s creativity.

"It is the art that displays how talented artists are and also tells stories of anxieties that society finds difficult to say,"he noted.

The Artists Alliance Gallery was founded by Professor Ablade Glover in 1968 with the aim to plant contemporary African art on the world’s art arena. The gallery hosts works of both celebrated and unknown artists.

They include contemporary paintings, antique and modern sculptor, ceramics and fabrics.

Mr. Annan stressed the need for society to see fine art as a way to place emphasis on the imaginative and creative ability of talented artists, saying "this will help the younger generations to have a dream and ambition to be artists".

He commended the founder for his vision to come up with the gallery to promote the works of African artists on the international market.

Dr Adhiambo Odaga, a Ford Foundation representative for West Africa, said many modern galleries focus on works of only artists who have received formal training and therefore commended Artists Gallery Alliance for casting its net beyond such people.

She said that the gallery would create opportunity for visitors to learn,view and purchase a wide range of cultural products, and host exhibitors in and around the world.

She noted that having markets like the Artists Alliance Gallery for fine arts is crucial to its development.

Dr Odaga urged Africans to appreciate the work of artists and suppport them to enable them to widen their operations.