While we at SPICE are concentrating on a theme of ‘Movement’ this month, 15 South African artists have joined forces to make a move at this year’s Chale Wote festival – a street art event held in Accra, Ghana – by launching an online fundraiser to travel to the event.
The group – an extension of the newly-formed JHB Massive – is titled the Supercrew and is formed of top talents, artist Anthea Moys, theatre and film practitioner Lindiwe Matshikiza, soundsmith João Orecchia, filmmaker Mpumelelo Mcata, music producer Tshepang Ramoba, singer Siyabonga Mthembu, graffiti artist Breeze Yoko, choreographer and performance artist Vishanthi Kali, visual artists Lavendhri Arumugam, Noluthando Lobese and Naomi van Niekerk, comedian, actor, rapper and linguist, Nicholas Pule Welch, the collaborators behind the music and archive project, Mushroom Hour Half-Hour and visual and performance artist, Dean Hutton.
The Supercrew, who will create for the first time as one team at the Chale Wote fest, is calling for people to pledge funds towards their goal of R156,600, which will cover their accommodation and travel to the festival, where they will create a masterpiece from their combined skills. Pledgers will in return receive rewards like postcards, portraits, private lunches and “home concerts,” with a cool video created by the crew to rally support.
The Chale Wote festival is a popular event that holds in James Town in Accra, bringing art, music, dance and live performance together, including street painting, graffiti, photography, theater, spoken word, interactive art installations, live street performances, extreme sports, film screenings, fashion showcases, block parties, upcycle design workshops and more. This year’s theme is African Electronics, referring to the “indigenous esoteric knowledge that Ghanaians use to create the impossible,” which is fitting considering the Supercrew’s means of getting to the event: raising what might seem like an impossible sum of money, through strangers and via electronics (aka the internet).
The event will hold this month, from August 22nd till 23rd and we at SPICE suggest those hoping to see South Africa represented at the event support the JBH Massive’s Supercrew, by pledging something towards their Chale Wote fundraising campaign here, before it ends in 6 day’s time – good luck to the crew in the meantime!
Video & image source: Accradotaltradio.com, Facebook.com/JHBMASSIVE
