Ghana will be the first African country to participate in this year’s Salvador Carnival in Bahia, Brazil, from February 9 to February 14.
The country received a special invitation to be the African representative to, among others, exhibit its culture and also bring back diasporians who trace their origins from Ghana.
On the theme, “Reconnecting Afro Roots”, the annual festival in Brazil allows different countries to showcase their cultural heritage through costume, music, dance, and art, among others.
A number of musicians, officers from the Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture, the Association of Ghana Industries (AGI) and players in the tourism, arts and culture industry will participate in the carnival.
A Deputy Minister of Tourism, Arts and Culture, Mark Okraku Mante, mentioned the country’s participation to the public in Accra last Tuesday, January 9, 2024.
The aim of the launch was to bring partners of the initiative together and also inform the public about the carnival.
The event was interspersed with cultural dances from different troops and attended by players in the culture and arts industry.
Mr Okraku Mante, who launched the initiative, said the country’s participation in the carnival would establish stronger ties between the two countries.
He explained that the millions of African women, children and men who were kidnapped and trafficked across the Atlantic and brought to Brazil to work on sugarcane plantations arrived with their own cultural traditions.
Black majority
Mr Okraku Mante indicated that data from the 2010 Brazil Population Census Report stated that the black and mixed race people formed the majority of Brazil’s population.
He said the proportion of people declaring themselves black or mixed race had risen from 44.7 per cent to 50.7, making African Brazil the official majority for the first time.
“We must therefore learn and teach the horrific history of slavery.
We must learn and teach the history of Africa, and the African Diaspora whose people have emerged and excelled in every field of human endeavour,” he said.
Mr Okraku Mante added that the histories of righteous resistance, resilience and defiance must also be taught to the generation of today.
Similarities in culture
Ghana’s High Commissioner to Brazil, Abena Busia, reiterated the similarities in culture, heritage and music between the countries, urging Ghanaian businesses to partake in the festival to increase investment in the country.
The Deputy Chief Executive Officer of the Ghana Tourism Authority, Anane Nsiah, said the carnival would provide an avenue to reconnect the two countries, reach out and build bridges with the African family.
Expectation
A member of the Afro Root Carnival Organising Team, Davis Owusu Mensah, explained that the initiative would help bridge the gap in education, trading and special opportunity areas between the two cities.
