It was reported last week in the press that the Arts Critics and Reviewers Association of Ghana (ACRAG) has decided to honour a number of individuals and organisations for outstanding contribution to the arts in the country.

According to the report, the awards which will take place at the National Theatre on September 11, 2007 is in commemoration of Ghana @50 celebration.

The decision to honour individuals and organisations who have contributed significantly in the realm of the arts is highly laudable and in the right direction. It will contribute a great deal in the context of promotion and development of the arts in the country, and put Ghana on the threshold of great accomplishment in the arts.

Emeritus Professor J.H. Kwabena Nketia, President of ACRAG who signed the press release is indeed an icon and a living legend in the realm of arts promotion and development in Ghana. He was one of the pioneers who rallied behind President Kwame Nkrumah during the first republic to lay a solid foundation for the promotion and development of the arts in the country. He has been a household word in the Ghanaian experience of arts and cultural development.

Emeritus Professor Kwabena Nketia is well informed about the early efforts made by President Nkrumah to develop the arts in the country. He is therefore in a better position to offer advice and guide many a new face who have emerged on to the scene of arts promotion and development in the country. It was out of his experience, ingenuity and foresight that the ACRAG came into existence a few years ago.

The avowed mission of ACRAG is to maintain focus on the arts and to influence its promotion and development in the country to meet international standards. By virtue of its function, ACRAG is a watch dog for standards in creativity in the arts in the Ghanaian experience.

In the light of this objective, I will suggest that ACRAG should consider increasing the category of awards it has designated for excellent achievements in the arts; and also move a step further besides selecting some special occasions such as Ghana @ 50 celebrations, and organise frequent occasions to honour excellent achievements in the arts.

To meet this objective, ACRAG should solicit and mobilise adequate funds within and outside the country. For instance, ACRAG can solicit for financial assistance from organizations like the Rocky Feller Foundation, Freud Adenaur Foundation etc. Furthermore, ACRAG should liaise and collaborate with other related organisations of the arts and open its doors wide to welcome all those who are in the bandwagon of arts promotion and development in the country.

I will also exhort ACRAG to try as much as possible to be circumspect and honest enough in its critical assessment so that justice will be done in the best moment of the various awards that are designated. There must be transparency and fair play in this kind of exercise in order to ensure popularity, acceptability and impact.

Undoubtedly, ACRAG is a powerful organisation. It must therefore try to maintain the necessary standards in its activities so that it will gain more recognition and respect both on the local scene and on the international scene. By virtue of its great role as the watchdog of the arts in the country, ACRAG should not expose itself to criticisms from outside its walls, since it is the authority and dispenser of criticism.

I am optimistic that the Ghana @ 50 awards will go a long way to inspire and to motivate the recipients, and also many a talented up and coming young artists in the country.

The writer is a theatre critic