The Occupant of the Golden Stool, Otumfuo Osei Tutu II has asked student artists and young artisans to rise to adapt to the situation of causing inestimable fine arts that to outperform the worth and tastefulness of their forbearers.
Speaking at the Asante Regalia Homecoming and Photo Exhibition, dubbed, “Homecoming, Adversity and Commemoration”, an event to mark the return and exhibition of some Asante crafts looted from the Palace of an Asante King, on May 1, 2024, His Majesty admired the elegance and magnificence of Asante traditional crafts of old.
He expressed that these works were made by either Asante regal artists or metal forgers referred to in the local language as “dwomfour” who without a doubt were uneducated people.
“Are we able to do that in this modern day? In 1874 and earlier on, if artisans who had not gone to school were able to create this, why can’t we do this now?”
His Majesty has called on students to put in a lot of effort and meet the standards because he is confident that Ghanaian artists can produce more valuable works of art than they did in the past.
“That is a challenge to our students, our young people and all that to be able to be creative more than these”
The event was held at the Manhyia Palace to welcome 39 new artefacts returned from three museums and are currently displayed inside the Museum for the public.
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The items include a 300-year-old original Mponponso sword by which every Asantehene swore the oath of office and used by the paramount chiefs of Asante to swear their oath of allegiance before the Asantehene and a seat owned by Asantehene Kofi Karikari, the tenth King of the Asante Kingdom.
They also include one gold peace pipe, a gold knife, three cast gold soul-washers’ badges, seven sections of sheet-gold ornament, one silver straining spoon, one pair of silver anklets and one section of sheet-gold ornament.
The British and the V&A Museums are crediting the 15 and 17 fortunes separately on an underlying three-year agreement. This is sustainable for an additional three years.
The British Museum Act 1963 prohibits their museums from removing an artefact from its collections unless it is a duplicate, damaged or unfit.
In the mean time, the ones from the Fowler Gallery seven pieces-are home on an extremely permanent premise.
