The 2024 edition of Ghana’s largest annual street art festival, Chale Wote, is fast approaching, and preparations are underway ahead of the main event in August.

As part of the warming-up process, the organisers, ACCRA [dot] ALT, in collaboration with Redd Kat Pictures and Chale Wote Street Art Projekt, have opened applications for artists who are interested in joining the celebration this year.

The thirteenth edition is themed “And Now An End To The Empire Of Horrors,” drawing inspiration from some of Africa’s deepest history that lies in the Gulf of Guinea. Chale Wote seeks to artistically focus on the tales of the fantastic and mortal gods from the Gulf of Guinea, which can be understood as allegories that illustrate the social conditions created by genocidal squatter colonialism. 

Chale Wote 2024 explores the history of the place through its origins and an examination of it in relation to its death and the current rebirth of its sacred sciences, long forgotten and buried with the giants. The event will curate a multiplicity of counterhegemonic narratives about this rebirth in their most spectacular form through art and entertainment.

Interested artists are permitted to send in their applications from now on. The call is open to all experienced artists who have been professionally active for at least 2 years and have a visible commitment to their professional artistic practice and media. “Having studied art is not a requirement; we accept applications from self-taught professional artists with at least two years of constant working experience.”

Proposed artwork can be realised in any medium, and there are no restrictions on form or content. However, proposals that demonstrate innovation and deep, nuanced understanding of contemporary art, craft, or design are preferred. Proposals must be site-specific, i.e., for the Osu metropolitan area during CHALE WOTE 2024.

The individuals’ concepts can be based on work to be realised as an intervention, a live performance, an installation, a video, photography, painting, sculpture, performance art, theatre, dance, animation, or some other form newly imagined. All works should translate to being displayed or performed in a public space, and they should actively engage intentional and incidental audiences where possible.

As strong advocates of art education, the organisers are also interested in works that can be tailored to include salons and knowledge-sharing labs with children and/or youth during the festival period.

The one-week-long festival will be held from Monday, August 19, to Sunday, August 25, 2024. Therefore, selected artists will be expected to realise the works from August 10 to 18, 2024, and have them ready for display from the beginning to the climax of the festival.

The deadline for submission of applications is May 1, 2024. Don’t miss the opportunity to explore and showcase your dexterity and creativity across the globe.

Meanwhile, international artists selected to participate are also encouraged to apply for funding from their home countries or other sources to support their travel, living costs, and funding for the cost of production for their work.

Below is the process for applying:

1. Current resume/CV: 3 pages maximum.
2. Application submissions must contain the following documents: 1) a concept note about your festival project; and 3) work you’ve made within the past 2 years. You may submit either still images or video.

We review video documentation if an artist’s work is time-based, interactive, web-based, kinetic, film, video, animation, and/or performance. If you work with installation, painting, sculpture, photography, and/or drawing, you must submit images. Please note that if you submit plagiarized work, your application will be disqualified.

Images: Five jpeg images, at 180 DPI resolution maximum, maximum total file size 250kb. Images must be titled with your last name, first name, and number with no spacing, e.g., Kweinortey1.jpeg, Kweinortey2.jpeg, etc. Please do not submit: PPT, PDF, TIFF, GIF, or PSD files.

VIDEO FILE Format: HD1080i Quicktime/H264

Email all applications to chalewote@accradotaltradio.com.