The Arts Critics and Reviewers Association of Ghana (ACRAG) Awards used to be one of the most-respected and the most –sort-after awards scheme back in the days as far as the creative arts sector was concerned but it appears the ever-changing trends and the dynamism of the entertainment industry is making it somewhat difficult for organizers to keep up.
After going into hibernation for some years, organizers communicated to the general public this year that the prestigious awards will be held this year. Nana Sika Acheampong, Secretary of ACRAG revealed on Peace FM’s “Entertainment Review” some weeks ago that the awards has been slated for the 3rd May 2014 but information gathered by Razz Newspaper is anything to go by then the comeback may not happen at all or would take little more time to materialize.
Kwame Osmo CEO of Katamadara Concepts, the new event organizers of ACRAG Awards disclosed that the event may not come off as announced earlier. “I don’t think it can happen this May. Anybody who tells you ACRAG awards will happen in May this year is a liar,” he said.
Asked when the event could possibly come off, Kwame said that, this year is totally ruled out. “Frankly, if everything will be set for the event to really happen it would be next year or maybe next two years because we have to sit down and do so many adjustments to determine which month we would want to do ACRAG again and bring new people on board,” he explained.
He explained that most of the members of the high panel of professional arts critics are growing old and some of them have even passed away. He said they need to reconstitute the panel and add young and fresh professional arts critics to be able to keep up with the changing times and make it more appealing and they need a lot of time to make all these happen.
“We cannot do ACRAG like they used to do it before. We need to rebrand the entire scheme. There are so many things we need to consider including using the same plaques among other issues,” he added.
Kwame said it was rather unfortunate there was a communication earlier with a supposed date for the event when they were still at the preparatory stage. He emphasized that the much-anticipated ACRAG awards will certainly come off but definitely not this year.
He said there are a number of meetings they are supposed to have after which detailed information about the event would be released in due course.
The Arts Critics and Reviewers Association of Ghana (ACRAG) Awards have been in existence for over three decades now. The avowed mission of ACRAG is to maintain focus on the arts and to influence its promotion and development in the country to meet international standards.
By virtue of its function, ACRAG is a watch dog for standards in creativity in the arts in the Ghanaian experience. The last ACRAG Awards was held in 2007.