Chalewote – Adomonline.com

Video: Legon students mock ‘chalewote’ girlfriend

Gershon Mortey — Thu, 17 Oct 2019 11:20:54 +0000

A video has emerged of some University of Ghana students making a mockery of a colleague lady who was recently in the news for slapping her boyfriend with slippers commonly known in Ghana as ‘chalewote’.

The young lady identified as Karen became an internet sensation last week for slapping her ‘cheating’ boyfriend in a video that went viral.

ALSO READ: Chale Wote photos: The beautiful are not truly lovely, it is the loved that…

Even though Karen has since apologised for her conduct, it appears the apology has failed to go down well with some of her colleagues who are seen in a latest video shaming her, literally.

ALSO READ: Video of Legon girl slapping ‘cheating boyfriend’ goes viral

Watch the latest video featured above.

Chale Wote photos: The beautiful are not truly lovely, it is the loved that is beautiful

Adwoa Agyeman — Sun, 20 Aug 2017 13:29:31 +0000

Huge buildings of big business on the highstreet, elbow Jamestown into nonentity.
Among the few cosmopolitans who would come here, would be officials of the Statistical Service to count the speed of reproduction and tell another depressing story of choked gutters and children giving birth to children.
But here in this corner is exactly where an amazing new ritual -Chale Wote – has turned the ‘frog’ of underdeveloped towns into a prince courtesy the kiss of love by the lovers of art.
Late Saturday afternoon, many youths wriggle around the Bank of Ghana building, the Barclays head office, past an Anglican chapel and stream in like tributaries trying to join the seaside festival at Jamestown.

The Chale Wote is Ga for ‘let’s go’ and so off we went in a stream of people that never run dry until late into the night. The ladies outnumbering the guys, perhaps 3 to 1.
We came to the seaside. Others came from the sea to the town. Gold and slaves was once an attraction. Today,however, it is culture, art and paintings.

Canadians, French, Argentines, Australians and folks from Lesotho ditched the more advertised venues of tourist attraction for a heavily under-advertised cultural festival.
Some of them are actually exhibitors and artists who came freely to exhibit paintings, draw on Ghanaian walls and also soak in other works of art.
Perhaps the most watched piece of indoor art was this painting titled ‘He drinks from the well’.
People’s eyes lit up at the simple painting. And someone’s pocket opened at the sight of it.
It had been bought for ₵6,000. Based on Chale Wote’s 2017 theme, ‘Wata Mata’, the artist explained, every man ought to find re-hydrating satisfaction from erh – women’s wells.
But folks won’t pay attention to the explanation, they just watched, beamed, ogled, gazed and inspected it like an offence at a traffic light.
And then took selfies of a man drinking deeply from a glass placed between a woman’s legs as if there was something more to this than a simple act of drinking – or was there?
And then there was this other painting. A standpipe behind a man’s head with water flowing through him and into a woman. That’s all I can say. Let’s just watch.

Ladies posed for pictures with Kwame Nkrumah as if they were not aware of a debate over whether Ghana had founder or founders. But at Chale Wote, there were no drawings of the Big Six. Only the big one.

At Chale Wote, we roamed through the roaming minds of artists and watched with long lenses, the work of colours. A pregnant foreigner watched with her unseen baby, the drawings and paintings.
The suspicious physical integrity of old buildings at Jamestown didn’t matter. It was the new drawings on them that held the enigma.

And these many scenes drove home a most powerful lesson sitting back and watching the revellers and enthusiasts. That Chale Wote is a compelling story of how loving something suddenly makes it beautiful.
Suddenly to my mind, all the music videos of love songs lied. All the beauty pageants and its gorgeous-looking contestants lied. Even the heartbreaking epic story of the Titanic lied, for the heroine was beautiful.
It would have been true if she was unimpressive.
For the squalor of Jamestown vanished under the brush of artists who loved it, who gave their love for art as the necklace that made the town beautiful.
At Chale Wote, beautiful ladies hugged ugly walls for selfies because the transforming power of art had made it beautiful.
Ladies held broken walls in a romantic embrace because creativity had made the wall whole, even hallowed.

Like the angel stirred up the dirty pool of Siloam to bestow on it healing powers, the organisers had stirred up the unimpressive environment to confer on it, star-attraction status.
There were so many lessons to be drawn from the drawings around the gutters and canvasses. That those who married for beauty are not yet in love. For true love must love the unlovely. Like a disfiguring pregnancy, old age or accident.
It suddenly became clear why Accra is dirty and Ghana is poor. It is not because laws don’t work or people are dirty. It is because, the city like the country is not loved.

C-H-A-L-E-W-O-T-E ! Not just a Ga word

Adwoa Agyeman — Thu, 17 Aug 2017 17:44:46 +0000

Now very popular for its art, culture and street jamborees, the word ‘’chalewote’’ is a native Ga word which means ‘’Let’s go friend’’ or just the name of rubber bathroom slippers. Over the past few years, this amazing art and cultural festival has been one to look forward to on our calendars right from the turn of the new year. Why is it that popular and what is in it for us? As a country, we are at a stage of development where we have to tap into every opportunity. The tourism and creative arts sector is one that has great potential and can boom if we pay great attention to it and explore the many vibrant avenues for development. This week, the Chalewote Festival returns to the capital and Jumia Travel, Africa’s leading online travel website takes an introspective look into why we cannot just treat ‘’Chalewote’’ as an ordinary Ga word. It has much more to offer than that.

Entertainment – Every year, the second week of August in Accra is one that is greeted with much enthusiasm and expectation. After the traditional festival of the local people, ‘’Homowo” comes the much colourful, cultural and creative art festival dubbed ‘’The Chalewote festival’’. There are only a few other events with such buzz and natural hype as the ‘’Chalewote festival’’. The entertainment it carries along with it is just overwhelming. Apart from the concerts at the tail end of the week long activities are several pockets of entertaining activities.Boxing bouts, acrobatic displays, cultural dances, live paintings, music, games and several other activities are all available on the streets of Jamestown. The entertainment often reaches its apex during the weekends usually in the last two days of the festival when busy workers and students who couldn’t make it during the weekdays all jump into life and turn up for the ‘’party’’.

Promotion of creative art, culture and tourism – In Ghana just like in several other parts of Africa, tourism is all about monuments and historic sites. This prejudiced notion has rendered the creative art sector of the industry a bit redundant in recent years. The ‘Chalewote street festival’’ offers all stakeholders and players in the Ghanaian tourism industry the platform to sell Ghana’s tourism. Organizations such as the Ghana Tourism Authority, The Ministry of Tourism, Culture and Creative Arts and many others come on board to ensure that all artwork and other activities that promote Ghana’s rich culture and tradition are promoted here. Souvenirs and Ghana branded paraphernalia are also on sale. From handmade beads to African print clothing and many more are on sale .Poetry, Music and acting is also a great way to sell Ghana and this platform presents such a medium.

Revenue – A word that every business loves to hear. Revenue is good for everyone when it is coming in and not being lost. At ‘’Chalewote’’, there is a lot of good money waiting to be made. Countless opportunities present themselves here and many smart people tap into it. Thousands of art and fun lovers converge in one big community. The endless list of items these people patronize just goes to show how much in income can be made from this week long festival. You will definitely go hungry, there are food vendors ready to serve you amazing cuisines.You need to recharge airtime, they are there, Street art for sale, you don’t have a problem. As a tourist, you want a place where Ghana made souvenirs go for cheap, you are in the right place. Drinks and other items are also here in multiples. Even if you are too tired to drive back home, a hotel booking is always one click away. However you look at it, there is money to be made.

Jobs – And of course, there are jobs that come with the revenue. To make more money, vendors usually need to be fast and efficient. This always calls for an extra hand or two. Although it is short term and the financial benefits are not as high. It pays some of the bills, doesn’t it? Hotels may employ more reservation staff to handle the excess bookings that will come in, restaurants will be super busy while vendors definitely need some help. There is always a job for someone when ‘’Charlotte’’ comes around.

National Development – just like the symphony orchestra when all the other parts are in sync, the music that is heard is just smooth and melodious. When this event is well organized as it always is and every facet is handled properly, national development is guaranteed. Tourism and hospitality industries will be booming while the nation is the overall beneficiary. Hotels will be fully booked, restaurants will run out of stock while the city will becoming with business. Guests will fly down, sleep in hotels, buy food and other items. This is is foreign exchange and money coming right to the nation.

Everyone has a reason for going to ‘Chalewote’’ and some of these reasons may amuse you. However, no matter what your preference is, one thing is for sure; ‘CHALEWOTE’ is not just a Ga word but also very beneficial.