Location | Accra, Ghana |
---|---|
Language | International |
Website | Accra Dot Alt Chale Wote Pages |
The Chale Wote Street Art Festival [1] [2] also known as Chale Wote, is an annual street festival in Accra, Ghana organized by ACCRA [dot] ALT, in collaboration with Redd Kat Pictures and Chale Wote Street Art Projekt. [3] The festival targets exchanges between scores of local and international artists and patrons. [4] "Chale Wote" in the Ga language means "friend, let's go" and its meaning is derived from a type of flip-flop commonly worn in a household. [5]
The festival has always been in existence before independence. Since 2011, CHALE WOTE has included street painting, graffiti murals, photography, theater show dubbed "Na Wo Se Sɛn", spoken word, interactive art installations, live performances, sports, film shows, and other activities. The first two editions ran for one day each, while the 2013 and 2014 edition ran concurrently for two days, the former on 7 and 8 September and the latter on 23 and 24 August, [6] a week after the Homowo festival of the Ga people at the historical Jamestown on the High Street in Accra. The format switched in 2016 when the festival lasted an entire week, from 18 to 21 August with the theme "Spirit Robot". [7] This switch saw the festival hop from the open street gallery that is Jamestown to other art spaces, such as the Nubuke Foundation, the Museum of Science and Technology as well as film screenings at the Movenpick Ambassador Hotel Accra. The same format was replicated in the 7th edition, themed Wata Mata, [8] on 14 to 20 August, with further immersion into Accra, spread to areas such as Nima, Osu and more. The event is produced by Accra [dot] Alt Radio, [9] [10] [11] with support from other local cultural networks like Attukwei Art Foundation, Foundation for Contemporary Art Ghana, Dr. Monk, Redd Kat Pictures, Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture, Ghana Tourism Authority, Ghana Museum and Monuments Board and Korley Klottey Municipal Assembly and the Institute français and Lododo Arts in Ghana. The most recent and 13th edition of CHALE WOTE started on Monday, 21 August and ended on Sunday, 27 August 2023 in the Greater Accra Region specifically, Osu, Ghana. [12]
List of activities during the street festival. [13] [3]
Year | Theme | Date | Reference |
---|---|---|---|
2011 | Promote the appreciation of diverse forms of art in Ghana | 16 July | [14] [15] |
2012 | "Outer-space” exploration | 14 April | [16] |
2013 | Re-imagining African folklore by creating exciting and futuristic versions | 7–8 September | [17] |
2014 | Death: An Eternal Dream Into Limitless Rebirth | 23–24 August | [18] |
2015 | African Electronics | 22–23 August | [19] |
2016 | Spirit Robot | 18–21 August | [20] |
2017 | Wata Mata | 14–20 August | [21] |
2018 | Para Other | 20–26 August | [22] |
2021 | 10 years of existence since its launch (Virtual event) | 13–22 August | [15] |
2023 | Magneto Motherland | 27–29 August | [23] |
2024 | And Now An End To The Empire Of Horrors | 19 - 25 August | [24] |
Located directly east of the Korle Lagoon, Jamestown and Usshertown are the oldest districts of Accra, Ghana and emerged as communities around the 17th century British James Fort and Dutch Ussher Fort on the Gulf of Guinea coast. These districts were developed at the end of the 19th century, and following the rapid growth of the city during the 20th century, they became areas of a dense mixture of commercial and residential use.
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