Corporate Ghana must fund creative arts events...

The past few years have seen a proliferation in the number of new festivals and events in Ghana, from food and music through to multi-art events and new works such as the just-ended ‘Chale Wote’ Street Art Festival in Jamestown, Ga Mashie.

While some of these festivals, such as the recently held Ghana Tourist Development Company (GTDC) “Foodfest”, to a greater or lesser extent, are reliant on public sector funding, a good number are produced by small-scale organisations often with fewer than five core staff, and a horde of volunteers.

With a clear demand on the part of audiences for arts delivery through a festival model, seeing the massive success of ‘Chale Wote’, which is run on funding sourced privately, perhaps, it is time for the authorities to look at putting some public funds into these small events which are a whole lot more of a hit, generating miles and miles of both traditional and social media column inches in both the national and international mass media, than others such as ‘Panafest’ which have become rather stale.

International media included features on BBC and Al Jazeera. Or, perhaps, it is time for the old guard to acknowledge their fossil status, and hand over the running of such laudable festivals such as Panafest to a younger team to handle.

For clearly, these younger set have proven that even without allocated budgets they are better able to mobilise a crowd, using social media technology, drawing them to attend the festivals from all over the world. Festivals are often about pulling in numbers. And in five short years, the rise in the popularity of ‘Chale Wote’, owing in no mean feat to social media, has been phenomenal, both from the preparation and execution points of view. Not often does such a new and intrusive event receive a nod from the community in which it is held, but through a year-round planning and community town-hall meetings for exchange of ideas, the organisers, Mantse Aryeequaye & Sionne Neely of Accra (Dot) Alt are able to rope in everybody in Ga Mashie to join in the jamboree and derive some of the benefits that come along with the promise of the festival.

The same can be said of the Asa Baako Music Festival, which takes place every March in Busua, in the Western Region. Characterised by ‘wild’ beach and jungle parties during the festival proper, they plan throughout the year, engaging in community activities including training the locals in soap making and such enterprises and help them gain market and economy.

And every year, since it started in 2011, it has attracted a growing revelling crowd which troops from Accra and Takoradi, as well as a good number who come from Europe! The long-term aim of Asa Baako is to “bring the world to Africa and Africa to the world”, and the organisers, Kofi Debrah and Richard Goddard of Beating Tracks, are well on their way to achieving this.

Fundraising is always a sticky point with these festivals, with many Ghanaian corporations unwilling to support Ghanaian artists, or not responding to these festivals in that way, yet “pinch” the work of poor artistes to promote their brand. For instance, organisers of the 'Chale Wote' street festival list water company, Bel-Aqua, as taking images from the just-ended festival to create an advertising campaign on their social media platforms branding their water. And then, vendors from drinks company, Red Bull, gained unauthorised entry into the festival and left branded cars at the entrance on Sunday. Wearing branded vests, Vodafone vendors walked through the festival selling recharge cards to audiences. Hello Foods employees, also wearing branded T-shirts, passed out flyers to festival goers.

Blue Skies positioned a vending truck at the entrance of Seaview Hotel on Sunday, after being told several times by the organisers to leave, and an Airtel commercial featuring Kalybos in James Town, uses the visual art of Jason Nicco-Annan without his permission or payment.

“Every year,” a release from the organisers of ‘Chale Wote’ says, “we must confront well-resourced companies who exploit the festival and the work of artistes with impunity. This amounts to theft, a persistent stealing of the intellectual property of artists, as a way to boost sales with customers. This dishonest practice does not acknowledge the time, energy, and cost that the artists and organisers of this festival have committed to the realisation of ‘Chale Wote’.

The artists and organisers are not contacted or recognised by their name, an accurate portrayal of their work or payment for the use of their work for corporate advertising. These businesses don’t even stop to consider how an artist’s message might be compromised through association with the selling of products.” “This goes against the very vision and mission of the ‘Chale Wote’ Street Art Festival that is to provide a platform to Ghanaian artists to create, exhibit and make a livable wage from their crafts.”

Ghanaian youth are taking the mantle upon themselves to make something out of their situations, and being so taken advantage of leaves much to be desired. Advertising agency staff and corporates should know better than to leech on to others’ toil for commercial gain.

Conclusion

The creative arts industry in Ghana needs serious looking into. Clearly, given a little urge, it can soar! Many entrepreneurs and events have shown it can, but, perhaps the mother of it all has been ‘Chale Wote’.

It made the city vibrant, something that has not been seen in a long while. Even its anticipation was exciting!