Let's Go, Man!

Two Saturdays ago marked the celebration of the Chale Wote festival of alternative art, brought to life by Accra [dot] alt. There have been some disagreeing voices from local bloggers about the outcome; while Graham at Critical Point proclaimed it a success with some potential to grow into, Holli's Ramblings shot it down as, essentially, whites imposing 'culture' onto the inner city where it was neither appreciated nor welcome.

the cliffs of Jamestown... garbage, oil drums, and the sea

My take on it? As soon as I got to the first “plaza” of events and saw the scale and scope I was in for, I threw any expectations out the window, and had fun.

The maps could have been a lot nicer – a six-piece Venn diagram describing sites that are all along the same street in a line was really confusing!

Roller Boys preparing for a jump - on a busy side street still in use!

Other than that, it was fun to wander around, I didn't feel unwelcome, and I loved seeing all the kids get involved, be it in dancing or face/body painting! We heard that kids were the focus during the day while the evening was the block party for adults.  

friends watching the brass band  (yellow shirts)

Yes, the scope was pretty small - let's say ten vendors, two artists in the "gallery," a gaggle of kids dancing in the plaza.  Yes, I felt that some kids saw it as an opportunity to beg some extra goodies from the rich obronis.  In particular there was one adorable girl who attached herself to my knee as soon as I'd bought my jollof rice, and disappeared as soon as it was finished.  

But there were just as many kids who were happy to get attention, interact with the friendly visitors and play with paint on their arms and on the sidewalks.  Adults wandered past, bemused, or stopped to watch, intrigued, and were all smiles.

"Beware of Mosquito"

My take-away?  I'd do it again!  There's gotta be a first year for everything.  There were glitches, there were sidelong glances, there were doubts.  But now that they've pulled it off once, I think more people will be interested next year.  This thing can grow.  And I'm looking forward to it!

More photos available on my Picasa album.