LIBATION ART IN ART OF GHANA:LINKING THE UNLINKED (Published)
This paper examines the history of easel painting on libation art in post-independence Ghana in relation to Nkrumah’s non-statutory cultural policy of inculcating libation art in national state functions. Through a visual analytic approach of post-colonial paintings on the subject matter by two pioneering contemporary Ghanaian artists, and analysis of musical libation into hiplife, it concludes that libation is a beneficial intangible cultural heritage permitted by Ghana’s constitution and international laws and must be reinstated at state functions. It posits that though libation shares peculiar religious characteristic verticality with Christian and Islamic prayers, the nation owes no apology to any religious sect for pouring libation at state functions as it has been the case for over five decades after independence. It recommends that a libation manual must be made to encourage its practice by young ones in order to ensure its preservation for the current and future generations
Keywords: Cultural Heritage, libation, prayer, religious tolerance, traditional worship