MANTSE ARYEEQUAYE, THE BRAIN BEHIND THE CHALE WOTE FESTIVAL

“The Chale Wote Street Art Festival was born in a spirit of recapturing the freedom and essence of African art in a post-colonial environment, functioning independently of state control and a non-profit festival free to the public. More than 10,000 people went down to Jamestown neighbourhood that hosted the event to see interactive performances, visual installations, theatre parades, live mural paintings, musical performances, conceptual fashion for the 5th annual street art festival. The festival hosted more than 200 locally and internationally based visual artists, poets, film-makers, vendors, photographers, musicians, and performance artists - each with their own diverse interpretations of the festival's vision”.

That was how documentary photographer, freelance multimedia journalist and short doc-film maker focused on African storytelling, Qualid Khelifi, described the fifth edition of the Chale Wote festival in his report for the Doha-based state-backed broadcaster funded by the House of Thani, the ruling family of Qatar, Al Jazeera.

This gives one an idea how big the annually held event has become with coverage from not only local and pan-African media houses but internationally respected news outlets including the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), Al Jazeera and The African Channel (USA).

This has become possible, thanks to Ghana based company ACCRA [DOT] ALT, an independent cultural network founded in 2010 that promotes the alternative work of Ghanaian artists and emerging creative brains across the globe as a launch pad for African alternative music, video and art. ACCRA [DOT] ALT is led by multitalented showbiz personality, Mantse Aryeequaye.

Mantse Aryeequaye is a household name within the Ghanaian Arts and Entertainment Industry and needs no introduction – a television and radio host, filmmaker, event and documentary director, public relations specialist, music production expert and a creative writer. 

Yes Mantse is a creative writer! He previously worked as a copywriter, during which he scripted some of the best concepts for radio and television commercials we have witnessed. Mantse gave yours truly the opportunity to develop his writing skill and also learn the ropes! In 2008, then a student of the University Of Ghana, I was offered a role as a reporter with then vibrant bi-weekly entertainment publication, JIVE, by Mantse who then served as the Editor.   Together with the other team members - award winning journalist, Anny Osabutey, now presidential staffer, Stan Dogbe and Joy FM’s Ato Kwamena Dadzie, Mantse assisted me to enhance my writing prowess, learnt the rudiments of the trade and more importantly understanding the rationale to be unique and an agent of change. 

In addition to his versatility, multiple talents and creativity, Mantse is well-read, upfront, a non-conformist and brutally truthful. Though being the no nonsense type and sometimes quick tempted, Mantse has a unique way of making strangers feel at home. Whenever he decides to review and critic your work, his comments are always constructive.

In his quest to give meaning to the arts, he assembled a team of volunteers, creative brains and close friends including myself in 2011 to introduce a concept which fuses art with history and digital technology to create new and revisionist works. That was the birth of the Chale Wote festival and five years after, Mantse together with his business partner, Sionne Neely, have succeeded in putting Ghana on the world map again and staking new claims on the future of country with the annual festival.

In addition to the Chale Wote Arts Festival, Mantse and his team at ACCRA [DOT] ALT have for the last four years organized the Indie Fuse Concert - an annual indie music festival featuring emerging Ghanaian and international artists in December every year. Last year, the event was rebranded and the name changed to Sabolai Radio. Likewise, the venue was changed from Alliance Française to the Efua Sutherland Children’s Park.

Another important project being organized by the group is the Talk Party Series – a free monthly platform that brings together creative professionals, social entrepreneurs, bloggers, artists, students and organizations to share ideas about life in the African city and to create projects that transform communities through interactive, public art.   

About the motivation for introducing these initiatives, Mantse said “ACCRA [DOT] ALT began in October 2010 as an idea for an alternative Ghanaian music concert in December of that year. Almost four years later, the network has expanded into a year-round cultural outlet. A one-of-a-kind concept in West Africa, ACCRA [DOT] ALT is a launch pad for African alternative music, video and art. There is a viable, global industry for African content out there. With this in mind, we develop fresh content – photography projects, short films, music videos, merchandise, and commercial advertising. We also create original programming – music events, art shows, film screenings, live concerts, roundtables, workshops, tours, and festivals – in the heart of Accra. We work with a rapidly expanding crew of artists, writers, designers and other creative professionals to produce our programming”.

It’s certainly a good time to be a Ghanaian, especially a creative brain, lover and contributor to the arts as well as an entrepreneur investing substantially into the arts at different levels who can take advantage and cash in on the new found global attention and focus on the Ghanaian arts space.

In a country where most of the citizenry rarely appreciates or cares about the arts, Mantse has succeeded in causing a paradigm shift with his movement. Currently, alternative musicians and other players within the arts are making substantial income from their works thanks to the enormous exposure from ACCRA [DOT] ALT activities.

MEET GHANAIAN MEDIA ENTREPRENEUR & MENTOR, NANA CHURCHER

She has one of the best produced talk shows currently on television and discusses with her guests a variety of exciting and intriguing subjects. Her guests are usually global superstars, seasoned business owners and revered personalities around the globe. The likes of BET’s Chief Executive Officer, Debra Lee, former Ghanaian High Commissioner to the United Kingdom, Professor Kweku Danso-Boafo, Hollywood singer and actress Brandy Norwood and teen sensation Kwesi Boakye, the voice behind Cartoon Network 'The Amazing World of Gumball' have all been on her show.

Her show is a thirty (30) minute inspirational chat show which is very popular across the African continent, the United Kingdom and beyond. Until recently, The Nana Churcher Show, aired weekly in over twenty African countries on the Vox Africa channel which is available to millions of DStv subscribers on the continent. Currently, the show airs on the lifestyle brand, ABN TV, available on the Sky TV bouquet across the United Kingdom.

Nana Churcher is a Beauty and Image Consultant and consults for some of the world's largest cosmetic companies. She is also a Director of BodyByVi, a weight-loss and fitness Challenge platform dedicated to fighting obesity round the world. The multitalented Ghanaian doubles as a broadcaster and serves as the host and executive producer of The Nana Churcher Show, which she is the owner and founder.

After months of promoting The Nana Churcher Show weekly on various Ghanaian media platforms as part of my duties then as the Public Relations and Publicity Executive of MultiChoice Ghana (DStv & GOtv), I met up with Nana in the summer of 2013 at one of the finest restaurants in London.

She was exactly the character I had perceived through our series of email correspondence, facebook messages and skype calls; she is calm and collected, accommodating, supportive, open to new ideas, a pragmatist and progressive thinker and above all, very passionate about what she does. 

Nana's unique style of interviewing her guests has won her numerous admirers and more followers of the show. Aware of her place in the society, the mother of four has committed herself to impact on lives and the careers of young Africans and other minorities across the United Kingdom with her platform.

“After moving to the United Kingdom, I realized some of the challenges our people were facing and I thought of an appropriate way to become a change agent and that saw the introduction of The Nana Churcher Show. It is an inspirational and motivational show which gives insight into the lives of extraordinary personalities around the world. On the show, these individuals share their stories and reveal how they beat the odds to excel in their various professions. You have no idea how this has motivated several young people not to give up in life and keep pushing the limits”, Nana stated.       

Apart from investing her time and energy into building her media empire, Nana has also devoted her show on Voice of Africa Radio (94 FM) to focus on promoting development and business within the African community across the United Kingdom. She presents business owners with the platform to network and share ideas on ways of overcoming their challenges. 

In addition, Nana Churcher has been very involved with the youth and has actively participated in several initiatives by youth organizations across the United Kingdom, usually serving as a mentor and counselor to younger people together with her husband, Mr. Alfred Ato Churcher, who happens to be a Life Coach by profession.  

According to Nana Churcher, “it is very important to develop the capacities of the younger ones so that they can take over from us when we are no more at the top, especially those aspiring to take up key roles in the Arts and Entertainment industry. This can be achieved through several ways which includes mentoring. That is something I have been very passionate about to ensure the younger ones become successful and excel in whatever they are doing. I have been blessed to have an understanding husband who supports in everything I do and has been part of the mentorship project. His expertise as a professional life coach comes in handy as he has a lot to offer”. 

Nana’s philosophy in life is to remain relevant within her community and use her God-given talents to make a change in the lives of several millions of people across the world. She shares in the theory of the Tibetan religious leader, Dalai Lama, who believes that our prime purpose in this life is to help others so we you can't help them, at least we shouldn’t hurt them. 

ONCE UPON A TIME, A STAR GOES TO WORK!

On Saturday 27th September 2014, I joined thousands of Ghanaians and other Africans across the United Kingdom who thronged the plush Troxy in London to witness the 2014 edition of the most prestigious African beauty pageant show in Europe, Miss Ghana UK.  

As promised by the organizers, premier Ghanaian international event company, Akwaaba UK, the night came with the usual pomp and pageantry the event has become known for with a host of celebrities and prominent personalities within the African community in attendance.

After about five rounds of exciting yet stiff competition between sixteen young and beautiful ladies of Ghanaian descent, then nineteen year old Miss Eloise Nana Yaa Anima Dickens who appeared to be the crowd’s favourite was eventually crowned as Miss Ghana UK 2014.

A week ago, I met up with Miss Eloise Dickens at the Coconut Grove Regency Hotel in Accra to discuss a project she was in the country to undertake under the auspices of the Miss Ghana UK Foundation, the Corporate Social Investment arm of the Miss Ghana UK brand.

Our discourse ranged from her role as an ambassador for the Miss Ghana UK Foundation and reign as the Miss Ghana UK 2014 queen, Reading Clinics in Ghana and her tenure of office as President of the African Caribbean Society at her university.

A second year law student of the University of Essex, Eloise spoke confidently about her passion to study the law with great insight, having adopted a requisite strategy to become one of the successful lawyers of her era. She also couldn’t hide her desire to become a change agent in the African diaspora community knowing the challenges Africans in the diaspora are confronted with.  

According to her, “the key principles guiding my reign as Miss Ghana UK 2014 are philanthropy and volunteerism. Over the period, I have been hugely involved in the Sickle cell awareness campaign in various communities across the United Kingdom as well as inspiring and encouraging under privileged youth across the United Kingdom.

In addition, I’m also passionate about partnering with various organizations both in Ghana and the United Kingdom to provide opportunities for young people to unearth their God given talents and abilities, realizing their dreams and aspirations in life and also creating awareness about the essence of empowering the girl child”. 

As part of her project in Ghana, Eloise held meetings with key stakeholders within the Ghanaian educational sector to discuss ways of enhancing the standards of education in the country through partnerships. With the members of her team, she is also organizing reading clinics in a list of schools within Accra in addition to talk sessions with students from selected schools. The team also visited the Royal Seed Orphanage at Kosoa in the Central Region where they engaged the children in a serious of fun yet educative activities before presenting various learning materials, food items and clothes to the management of the orphanage.

As we brought our conversation to an end, one thing that was obvious was Eloise’s zeal and passion to change the world around her and use the Miss Ghana UK crown to affect the lives of several deprived people within her society.