Accra, April 07, GNA – The Pan-African Heritage World (PAHW) Museum has inaugurated a 15-member curatorial board to ensure the effective operation of the Museum.
The Board is under the chairmanship of Professor Molefi Kete Asante, Head of Department of Africology, Temple University, USA.
A statement issued by the Department of Communications of the Organisation and copied to the Ghana News Agency in Accra, said the Board consisted of distinguished scholars and curators across the world such as Professor Kofi Asare Opoku, Chair of the Kwabena Nketia Centre for Africana Studies, AUCC, Dr Babacar MBow, Consulting Curator Senegal/USA, Dr Ali Moussa Iye, retired UNESCO Director from Djibouti, June Givanni of June Givanni Pan African Cinema Archive, UK, Onyekachi Wambu, CEO of AFFORD-UK, Senator Patricia Bovey of Canada, and Imruh Bakari, Filmmaker from St. Kitts/UK.
The rest are: Dr Ibrahima Seck of the University Cheikh Anta Diop, Dakar, Dr Runoko Rashid, historian and public lecturer, USA, Dr Jones Kyazze, former UNESCO Museum curator from Uganda, Nii Kwate Owoo, award-winning filmmaker, Dr Pashington Obeng African Studies Scholar from Ghana, Dr Nubia Wartford Polk, of the Nubian Archaeological project, Detroit, Michigan, and Dr Lanisa Kitchener, Museum Specialist, Washington DC.
Mr Kojo Yankah, Executive Chairman of the Museum project, who inaugurated the Board at a virtual meeting, said the Museum needed to be guided and advised by experienced persons in the museum space to attain high international standards.
He said the responsibilities of the Board, therefore, included advising on the collections for the museum, archiving, conservation, recruitment, training, and capacity building for museum staff, as well as guiding the Executive Council on all matters related to restitution, sovereignty, and relations with other museums.
The PAHW Museum located at Pomadze Hills in Ghana is a ‘unique complex’ which includes a Garden of Sculptures of African Heroes, the Palace of African Kingdoms to replicate all African Kingdoms, ancient and modern, and a Herbal Plant Farm, with chalets, to curate all Herbal Plants from the pan African world.
Mr. Yankah said the Museum: “Is different from other museums because it is impactful, educational, experiential and inspirational, telling the history, culture, ideals and the untold achievements and inventions of Africans.”
Babacar MBow, Consulting Curator and a Board Member assured that the Board would ensure the construction of the digital version of the Museum online before June 2021.
Meanwhile, the Museum is expected to hold its first hybrid annual conference in Accra from August 5-7, 2021, under the theme: “Bridging the Gap among Africans through Scholarship, Culture, Entrepreneurship, and Technology.”
The PAHW Museum project has received endorsements from the African Union Commission (AU), Government of Ghana (GOG), Association of African Universities (AAU), United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), and the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), among others.
The Pan African Heritage World Museum is an international non-governmental organization that seeks to create an environment for people of African descent and all others to discover and experience the true history of the origins of humanity, the development of cultures, and the great civilisations of the Nile Valley to present that influenced the past, informs the present and will shape the future, serving as an inspiration for generations to come.
GNA