CHALE WOTE IN JAMES TOWN THIS WEEKEND

The third annual CHALE WOTE Street Art Festival takes place in James Town on September 7th and 8th, 2013, 10am-9pm [free]. The festival is produced by ACCRA [dot] ALT in association with The Foundation for Contemporary Art – Ghana, the Accra Metropolitan Assembly, Institut Français, Alliance Française, Dr. Monk, No Limits Charity, Absolut Vodka, CitiFM and The Attukwei Art Foundation.

 The second edition of the CHALE WOTE Street Art Festival held on April 14th, 2012 was a major success and the collective effort of many young people—ranging from artists, musicians and writers to designers, students and activists—who worked together to produce Accra’s only street art festival. The one-day festival included street painting, sidewalk painting, graffiti murals, live music performances, a fashion circus, extreme sport stunting, experimental theater, spoken word, art workshops and Installations.

The festival drew over 4,000 people last year – loads more people are expected to attend this third edition. CHALE WOTE 2013 welcomes installation projects by internationally acclaimed participants – mixed media/visual artist Nolan Dennis [Johannesburg, SA], dance performance artist Weléla Mar Kindred [Paris, France], visual and performance artist Olaniyi R. Akindiya Akirash [Austin, Texas USA], musician and performance artist Meyrick Kaminiski [Berlin, Germany] and art photographer Stephanie O’Connor [Johannesburg, SA]. With support from Institut Français, the festival introduces the Ghana exhibition to Accra – by acclaimed photographer Denis Dailleux – with images that capture the magic of James Town life.

Visual artists Ibrahim Mahama, Bernard Akoi-Jackson, Nana OforiAtta Ayim, Zohra Opoku, Attukwei Clottey and I.U.B. have some of the most compelling exhibitions at the festival. Also look out for Elisabeth Sutherland’s remixed Ananse folktale.

 What else is happening at CHALE WOTE this year?

• More than 200 artists are taking part in this year’s two-day festival. 30 Ghanaian visual artists will erect cutting edge exhibitions of their work. Eight international artists – from South Africa, Germany, France, U.S and Nigeria – will feature their work at CHALE WOTE 2013.
• Two-day film festival and digital art installation
• Live music at the High Life Café, DJ Masquerade block party [Sat.7th] and beach concert [Sun. 8th]
• Interactive procession by the Takoradi Masquerade [Sat. 7th]
• The Accra Cookout – an international food court
• The Fashion Marketplace – fashion vendors, street fashion show, a craft village [to upcycle used fashion and accessories] and street style photo corner

• Historical walking tours of James Town
• And so much more…

Our Partners

We are working in collaboration with more than a dozen organizations across the city to produce CHALE WOTE 2013, including REDD Kat Pictures, Acrilex, Urban Republic, FashionistaGH, Citi FM, The Republic Bar + Grill, Afrika Eye GH Film Festival, BloggingGhana, Rockstone’s Office, Roc.doms and Ghana Urban Platform.

Contact the festival operations office at accra.alt@gmail.com for more information and updates.