President Mahama visits Ghana’s Kente exhibition in Moscow, touts cultural ties with Russia
President John Dramani Mahama has visited a special Kente exhibition in Moscow, Russia, praising the initiative for showcasing Ghana’s rich cultural heritage and strengthening people-to-people relations between Ghana and Russia.
The exhibition, organised by the Ghana Export Promotion Authority (GEPA) in collaboration with the Russia-Ghana Parliamentary Forum and other partners, features exhibitors from Ghana and highlights the country’s traditional Kente cloth and cultural symbols.
Speaking during his visit, President Mahama stressed the importance of cultural understanding in building lasting relationships between countries, noting that partnerships between citizens were as important as diplomatic relations between governments.
“While we have contacts from government to government, and we have relations between our two governments, the more enduring partnerships are the relations between people and people,” he said.
He added that understanding each other’s cultures was essential to consolidating people-to-people relationships and fostering stronger connections between the Ghanaian and Russian populations.
President Mahama expressed appreciation to GEPA and its partners for bringing the exhibition to Moscow, describing the initiative as an important platform for promoting Ghanaian culture to an international audience.
He disclosed that nearly 11,000 people had visited the exhibition, commending the organisers for the presentation of the displays and the effort to make the cultural information accessible to Russian-speaking visitors.
“I understand, almost 11,000 people have so far come to see this exhibition, and it is well laid out, and all the explanations have been translated into Russian,” he said.
The President noted that the translations enabled visitors to understand the meanings of Adinkra symbols and appreciate the cultural significance of the exhibits.
He also thanked the museum’s director, Anna, and representatives of the Russian Academy of Arts and Sciences, as well as members of the Russian parliamentary group for friendship with Ghana, for their support and invitation.
President Mahama congratulated the organisers and partners for their efforts in promoting Ghana’s cultural identity and creating opportunities for cultural exchange between the two countries.
The exhibition forms part of broader efforts to strengthen Ghana-Russia relations beyond formal diplomatic engagements by using culture as a platform for mutual understanding, cooperation and lasting friendship.
