By Yunus S Saliu
National Centre for Arts and Culture (NCAC) has, Tuesday, joined the women folk to celebrate the International Women’s Day and also officially launched The Network of Women Arts in The Gambia.
The celebration and launching took place at the NCAC Garden in Banjul.
It has become tradition that every year the Centre celebrates the important and multiple roles that women play in the society especially in promoting heritage and culture in the country.
Addressing the gathering, HassoumCeesay, Director General of NCAC disclosed that the Centre has joined the world to mark the day to highlight the talent that Gambian women have as arts and culture is concern thus International Women’s Day is a day of deliberation about what has been, what to could be and what will be.
Celebrating the IWD would bring to attention of the general public that arts and culture sector “is also a sector where women are not left behind, one of the reasons also that we invited some of the students from their various schools to allow these young girls to understand and take up carrier in the arts sector.”
Commenting on the NCAC launched Network of Women Arts, he revealed that the intention to bring women artistes together and to inter-relate, exchange ideas, and look for funding to organize programmes that will empower and create jobs for the youths to enable them contribute to national development. “And we believe through TheNetwork of Women in the Arts, we can achieve our objectives,” he expressed.
MattyJobe an NCAC official dilated on the importance of the day saying it means a lot to women because it is globally celebrated.
“Let called them (women) together, and recognize their contributions, and this newly formed network will bring women that are into different areas of artstogether and they will continue to promote our heritage and culture together with their agendas,” she added.
“We are here to celebrate women who are into arts business area, to recognize their efforts in the arts, that’s why the whole idea was to bring them here, and this would continue together with the network of women arts.”
Madam Justine of Alliance Francaise among others made remarks about the day which was marked with different activities which included short drama from performing group; recitation of poems by poets; singing and dancing by different women groups.
