High Street is filled with rivers of people, shoulder to shoulder, flowing in competing directions. From Usher Fort at one end to the Jamestown Lighthouse at the other, the road has been blocked off and foot traffic has taken over, supplemented by street performers, muralists, artists, vendors and the ubiquitous women and children selling water from atop their heads. It’s Chale Wote, Accra’s annual street art festival breaking down the conceptions of West African art.
Dozens of buildings are in a state of being half built or half decayed along the road. Quick glances at the buildings provide flashes of color revealed through unfinished windows or crumbling holes, inviting a closer look. Once beyond the thresholds, it’s clear why the crowd is gathered there: the walls are covered in murals. Subject matter ranges from spins on the festival’s theme, Wata Mata, to playful images of chimpanzees. Artists from across Ghana and around the world have made the walls in this historic community their canvases and everyone is interested.
About the Chale Wote Festival
Chale Wote (cha-lay whoa-tay) roughly translates as, “Friend, let’s go!” It’s what Ghanaians call flip flops. But for a week each year, it refers to this street art festival. This year, 2017, was the festival’s seventh year and the theme, Wata Mata, wrapped up a trilogy of themes. Wata Mata is West African Pidgin for Water Matter. It’s described as “an endless space of form making” and an “all access dream machine.” The festival is described as “an alternative platform that brings art, music, dance and performance out into the streets.”
Here’s a bit more of a taste of some of the sights and sounds from the festival.
If you are interested in street or contemporary art or just like going to festivals, I definitely recommend making it a point to go to Chale Wote. I just strolled around the street on the weekend, but there are a number of other offerings throughout the week that I didn’t even get to sample. All the information can be found at accradotaltradio.com