Liberia’s Cultural Arts Showcased in Ghana and Ivory Coast

MONROVIA – Liberia’s Culture-promoting Group kept young and old citizens of two Countries—Ghana and Ivory Coast—on their dancing feet in hours during the Liberian Group’s musical and cultural (choreography) performances in each of these two African Countries.

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By Samuel G. Dweh, Freelance Development Journalist, [email protected]

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The name of the Liberian cultural body that performed is All Stars Musical and Culture Group (ASMCG), established in 2013, in Monrovia, by a young cultural dancer.

The visiting Liberian culture group comprised nine males and seven females.

 The performances in Ghana was held at  Ghana’s Arts Center on the 11^th day of October, 2022.

The performances in Ivory Coast was held October 15, 2022 at two places in the Country’s Capital City—Abidjan. The venues were Escape Gombe Beach, in Jacqueville Community, Yuopugun.

This writer interviewed the Group’s two Founder and its consultant simultaneously.

“My name is Eddie Dongbe. My performance name is Africa Soldier. The All Stars International Musical and  Culture Group was founded by me. Few weeks I founded the group, I went to my senior brother and my senior in culture knowledge, Mr. Emmanuel Lavela, to serve as my personal advisor based on his deeper knowledge in cultural dance and music,”  the object of the interviewer’s first question replied, and looked to the person sitting at his right-hand side.

“My name is Emmanuel B. Lavela, Executive Director of the School of Liberian Arts and Dance, another Liberia’s cultures-promoting. I accepted this young man’s appeal to be his personal advisor because of his deeper passion of promotion of our Country’s cultural music and dances. I’m not a registered member of his Group—separate from mine, SLAD,” Emmanuel clarified. “SLAD was born on Ghana’s refugee camp where I had lived over nine years. Some of our clients are Hotels. We entertain foreign Tourists in Liberia and teach them in drumming and dancing,” he added, and showed me pictorial proofs on his SmartPhone. One of the photos was of four white men beating drums made from woods and animal skin, with him and other SLAD members sitting with them. Another photo was of two white men and one white woman dancing as SLAD’s Executive Director and two of his deputies had their hands raised over the drums.

“Our trips to both Countries—Ghana and Ivory Coast—were sponsored by United States of Africa Consultancy, USAC, based in the United States of America,” Eddie chipped in, after Emmanuel had shown pictorial proofs about SLAD’s Community Outreach programs.

 “The All Stars International Musical and  Culture Group’s presence in Ghana and La Cote d’ Voire was for the Liberian cultural group to share its Country’s cultural knowledge and for our host to share its Country’s cultural knowledge to us. We are highly grateful to the United States of Africa Consultancy’s financial support that made our dreams of cultural performances in Ghana and Ivory Coast possible. We travelled first to Ghana. Our cultural songs were in the Bassa Language of Liberia. The Ivoirians welcomed us, and many attended our performance sessions like the Ghanaians did,” Eddie narrated.

The All Stars International Musical and  Culture Group is the third Liberian Culture-promoting group that had showcased Liberia’s Cultural Arts (drumming, singing, and dancing) outside Liberia.

The first was Balawala Foundation International, a Culture Group, headed by National Culture icon, Mr. Kekura Kamara, current president of the Liberia National Culture Union (LINCU)

“We attended the World Rhythem Festival, an International Cultural Event, in Italy, in 1996. Our trip was sponsored by the then-current FIFA’s World Best Footballer in that year, Liberia’s George Manneh Weah, when he was playing for Italian Club AC Milan during that time,” Mr. Kekura Kamara had told me in 2021.

The first Liberian cultural group that showcased Liberia’s cultural Arts was the Crusaders for Peace, founded by Liberia’s current National Culture Ambassador, Juli Endee. This was a few years after the election of Liberia’s first post-civil war democratic Presidential and Legislative elections.

In April 2021, the National Culture Ambassador Juli Endee led a team of Liberian culture performers to the International and Cultural and Artifacts  Exhibition in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, in 2021.