“The response of corporate bodies at the maiden edition of the South west cultural festival was timid”

Dr. Kuo Makolo William Akwo- President of Arts and Culture in Meme Division

The maiden Edition of the Southwest Cultural Festival rounded up and you were privileged to be the host and in the heart of its organisation. What are your general impressions?

The impressions I gathered are that the Southwest people love their culture. Problems however set in because many thought that the whole thing was not going to turn out successful. When the Regional Delegate took the challenge and decided to organise it in Kumba I threw my weight behind her. This was followed by the constitution of Committees at the Regional and Divisional Levels. We decided to throw our weight behind her because we felt that the culture was dwindling and needed to be revived. 

Can you say that this cultural festival manifested a reasonable degree of unity among the South westerners?

Yes because I saw groups from Kupe Maneguba, Manyu, Meme, Fako, Lebialem and Ndian Divisions. All of them had only one dream which was to see that the culture of the Region is revamped. Everybody was happy and hoped that this event will be yearly. True that it has been suggested that the Festival should be rotative in the Region but I think that since this first edition was just a trial thing, Meme should be given another chance for the occasion to be better organised before determining what route to follow in future.

One of the central themes on the festival was that of sustaining culture. How far do you think this lofty objective is attainable?

We are calling on the authorities that be and all the cultural stakeholders to help us create some sort of a cultural museum in Kumba. Such an initiative will bring in the younger population and create a forum through which we could constantly assemble and exploit and promote our culture.

How powerful do you think the Traditional Rulers came out during this maiden cultural festival?

I congratulate the Chiefs of the South West Region for their collaboration and support that they gave the Regional Delegate of Arts and Culture for the South West Region. I pray that the Chiefs should continue to stick together as they have proven to be so that the next event will be a much better event. I equally call on corporate bodies or companies to be much more forth coming as far as supporting such initiatives is concerned. The Regional Delegate sent appeals to these structures but their response was very timid. We hope that in future much more interest will be manifested.

What message do you have for stake holders in arts and culture?

I will like that all Cultural Groups, artists, musicians and traditional dance groups not to feel discouraged if they didn’t get the expected satisfaction. Next year will see a marked improvement in the quality of the event. Many of them felt that they were disappointed as they did not get anything but next year will be more inclusive and will bring in more collaboration from other structures in society. With the creation of our cultural center or museum we look forward to creating some sort of a cultural industry which is all inclusive.

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