The National Folklore Board (NFB) under the auspices of the Ministry of Tourism Arts and Culture marked this year’s World Folklore Day celebration with an appeal to the public to vote for one traditional dish as Ghana’s national meal.
Folklore is celebrated on August 22 every year in countries around the world.
In a release issued to the Ghana News Agency, on Tuesday, in Accra, it urged Ghanaians to participate in a research exercise being conducted to select one traditional meal to represent Ghana on the national and global front, saying it was a medium of safeguarding Ghana’s intangible cultural heritage elements.
It said the exercise was to provide the Board with enough information and support in its attempt to nominate one main Ghanaian meal for possible enlisting on the UNESCO Representative List of Intangible Cultural Heritage in the near future.
The release said the NFB is the statutory agency in Ghana responsible for the administration, registration, promotion and protection of Ghanaian folklore as well as the implementation of the UNESCO 2003 Convention for the Safeguarding of Intangible Cultural Heritage of which Ghana is a signatory.
“Folklore or intangible culture refers to ways we express our culture which includes foodways, music, dance, art, designs, names, symbols and signs, performances, ceremonies, architectural forms, handicrafts and narratives, languages or any artistic cultural expressions.”
It said this year, the Board had submitted a dossier of the Traditional Woven Textiles, Kente (Craftsmanship of Kente Weaving) to UNESCO for possible enlisting onto the UNESCO Representative List of Intangible Cultural Heritage and received some positive feedback.
It also anticipates having the element enlisted in 2024. The Board is also submitting a periodic report this year to UNESCO on safeguarding intangible cultural heritage elements in Ghana.
The Board encouraged Ghanaians to observe the World Folklore Day 2023 form August 22 to 27 with Ghanaian highlife, palm wine
music, African music, traditional foods and wear made in Ghana outfits and to participate in this exercise, follow the link: https://forms.gle/tLyYjCizt3bNpgmC9
“The need to protect and promote our heritage as Ghanaians and safeguard Ghana’s intangible cultural heritage elements should resonate as an area of interest to all,” the statement added.
GNA