First published on August 23, 2017
“…we will have a very dysfunctional society which will hamper progress.” That was the concluding part of a post I made on the issue of using the media to enlighten society and get people thinking well. How does this concern Chale Wote? Maybe, I will make some sense by the end of the post.
For any society to progress, it will need a well informed and functioning citizenry, and the media is a vital tool for socialization in our current world. If authorities don’t take a proactive measure to control the current trend and the media owners make a conscious effort to enlighten the audience with their content… we will have a very dysfunctional society that will hamper progress. I think we are experiencing that already.
I have already said I regard Accra[dot]Alt’s Chale Wote event as the biggest photography event in Ghana, but that’s not to say it’s a Shangri-La. Though a picturesque event, it’s not the most photographer-friendly. Child exploitation, extortion, theft, and harassment are some of the menaces deviling the could be or should I say intended Shangri-La. A real interactive platform to showcase art, thoughts, intelligence, and weirdness.
Before we crucify organizers for not planning processions with crowd control, properly sanctioning street performers, providing functioning security, and not having control of all activities at the event, we should consider the society in which they operate.
Human development is not a subject of interest in our society. We don’t spend time understanding how people think and helping people think. We create media content without factoring in its effects on the audience. We have failed at creating content that will teach people how to live and live right.
Chale Wote is hosted at Jamestown. A neglected historic, slavery, and colonialism hub, now a low-income fishing community.
My friends and I decided to walk to the beach behind the lighthouse. Ahead of us was a group of international students from Ashasi. I believe. Some fellas mounted a barrier to demand money at the entrance before allowing us on the beach. Accra[dot]Alt shouldn’t have allowed this to happen, huh? But what happens to the society’s hosting role then?
That was like the fifth time someone was demanding money from me. Most of the demands came from con artists, I believe. They use kids as installation to extort money from unsuspecting observers and photographers. Chale Wote is a free event. But as a photographer, I paid some money to get noncommercial access. Those people did not register with the organizers. But hey! It is their community, and they will do as they please. After all, they have bars and food joints, but most of the money is made by visiting vendors.
Chale Wote is a lifestyle event. It’s a gathering of people with a familiar interest, not a street jam. It is supposed to be an intellectual event but can’t exist in isolation. The host society has a controlling stake. Accra[dot]Alt can’t enforce a “The Green Book” on the people of Jamestown, but I think they can find a way to properly engage them and make them feel part of the event.
So to the people, Chale Wote won’t be a period when privileged people get together in their space and have a good time, but a season when people from across the world visit them to celebrate their art and culture.
And yes, we have to start making conscious efforts to use the media to reorient our society, and I don’t mean the current mediocre copy and paste bullshit going on.
Accra[dot]Alt, if possible, please find a creative way of giving free access passes to interested visitors. So to a great extent, you can regulate the kind of crowd that attends your event. Chale Wote is not for everybody, I believe.
And my last request, either you regulate the people who use kid boxers and provide the necessary protective apparel or stop that exhibition. James Town is a boxing community, and if we’re going to showcase that, it must be done well.
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