The 7th annual Chale Wote Street Art Festival starts today, 14th August 2017 in Accra.
Over 200 Ghana-based and international artists will be building and exhibiting their works in James Town and 15 venues across the city.
This year’s festival which ends on 20th August, 2017, also marks the end of a trilogy theme that began in 2015 with African Electronics, a blueprint to access internal technologies and re-member organiser’s multidimensional systems to create the impossible. It will include 15 creative spaces with events and exhibitions that speak in new and exciting ways to WATA MATA, the theme for the 2017 festival.
Over the last six years, CHALE WOTE has propelled the development of an independent creative and arts economy in Accra.
The CHALE WOTE Street Art Festival is an alternative platform that brings art, music, dance and performance out into the streets. The community-based festival takes place in James Town – one of Accra’s most historic communities – and targets exchanges between Ghana-based and international artists creating art together. Each year, the festival is produced by ACCRA [dot] ALT and REDD KAT Pictures in collaboration with a number of cultural organisations across the city.
CHALE WOTE means “man, let’s go!” in Ga (the language of the people of greater Accra) and it is also a reference to flip flops. The term has been used to mobilise a public passion for art and to cultivate a wider audience for the arts, breaking boundaries to provide access to people of all walks of life.
Activities include a vibrant mix of visual art, photography, films, fashion, mixed media, interventions, processions, live music, dance, panels, discussions, tours, food and more.
In a related development, the Accra Metropolitan Assembly (AMA) has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to support this year’s festival.
Mr. Mohammed Adjei Sowah, the Accra Metropolitan Chief Executive, who signed the MoU and launched the Festival, advised the people to use the programme to showcase their culture.