“Please get me my sunglasses, Metta.” That’ll perfectly sum up the dashiki on my jeans shorts and chuck Taylor’s ” Little did we know that we will be reminiscing this comment from a year ago! My sister and I always look forward to this event that somewhat ends the summer: the ‘Chalewote Street Art Festival‘ and, this year we huddled up and headed towards Jamestown with our usual faves, Jamal and Kukua to have a good time.
For those of you who do not really know what Chalewote is all about, here is a little insider. Chalewote is an art festival held in Jamestown, Accra, Ghana annually which embodies a theme and different creative perspectives of that particular theme by various Ghanaian artists. There are different forms of art including conventional art forms like paintings on canvases and not so conventional art forms like body art. On the strip of the main road passing through the town the fest is held and at the end of it all there is the lighthouse that oversees the town and the Kings palace where a concert is held by the end of the day.
Going to the fest this year was definitely exciting because it was all that my crew and I anticipated. From the floor art to the history themed photography gallery to the random choreography by the locals. there was definitely an out pour of Ghana’s rich culture represented in diverse ways.
There are tips for anyone who wants to go next year. If you are an early bird and arrive there while the sun is out, the only thing that may be a bother is squinting due to the rays of sun that seep through the warm August sky. However, if you cherish sleep during the summer and take years to do makeup and choose your outfit (like me lol) and arrive there later on, there is definitely going to be a heavy influx of people so human traffic will be present.
All in all, Chalewote should be an enjoyable experience because its all about art and art is not just supposed to be pleasing to the eye but it should make you feel something – Chalewote gives you just that!
Checkout the Chalewoteghana intagram page, you won’t want to miss out next year.
[iPhone Photography 😉]
