Support Industrial Arts students : Corporate institutions urged
The Rector of Ho Polytechnic, Prof. Kojo Sakyi, has appealed to corporate and financial institutions to support the initiative by students and graduates of the industrial arts industry, to enable them to establish businesses after the completion of their studies.
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He said the private sector had a great responsibility to support the growing and creative economy, since that support, especially for the art industry, would not be a wasteful venture, because there was enormous untapped creativity in the Ghanaian society which could effectively be made competitive in the modern world.
At the opening of a two-week exhibition by the Faculty of Art and Design, Industrial Art Department of the Ho Polytechnic, last Friday, the rector stated that quality and beautiful Ghanaian arts, crafts, textile and architectural designs could be competitive items of trade globally.
Creativity and innovation
The global economy, he observed, was being driven by the use of knowledge in the industry, which itself manifested in the form of creativity and innovation.
As a result of that, there was the need to focus on this development tool as a nation, and also support skilful students and graduates to showcase what they had even to the international level, he stated.
Items on exhibition included beautiful ceramic wares, textiles, sculptures, paintings, graphic design, among others.
Appreciation
Appreciating the works of the students, Prof. Sakyi said although the students had only one workshop where they did their practicals, the level of skills exhibited within a practical period of 18 months showed that with a little push, they could go far.
He said the Ho Polytechnic was privileged to have such calibre of students and lecturers devoted to taking the industry to its rightful position. “The evidence of work with this profession under trying conditions shows that if given the adequate facility you will do wonders,” he added.
Prof. Sakyi encouraged the students to take industrial art seriously and produce valuable products to meet marketing demands. He assured the Art Department that the polytechnic, in its small way, would help to develop some of the exhibited items into bigger products that could be used for the beautification of the institutions.