WEBVTT
X-TIMESTAMP-MAP=MPEGTS:900000, LOCAL:00:00:00.000

00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:02.250 align:middle line:84%
ABDUL KARIM ABDULLAH: Afrochella
is not a music festival,

00:00:02.250 --> 00:00:03.770 align:middle line:90%
it's a cultural festival.

00:00:03.770 --> 00:00:05.370 align:middle line:84%
At Afrochella, you
will get equal parts

00:00:05.370 --> 00:00:07.720 align:middle line:84%
of music, equal parts
food, equal parts

00:00:07.720 --> 00:00:09.450 align:middle line:90%
arts, and equal parts fashion.

00:00:09.450 --> 00:00:10.780 align:middle line:90%
My name is Abdul Karim Abdullah.

00:00:10.780 --> 00:00:11.880 align:middle line:84%
I'm the co-founder
of Afrochella,

00:00:11.880 --> 00:00:13.830 align:middle line:90%
and I'm here with In the Know.

00:00:13.830 --> 00:00:16.305 align:middle line:90%
[MUSIC PLAYING]

00:00:16.305 --> 00:00:20.265 align:middle line:90%


00:00:20.265 --> 00:00:21.770 align:middle line:84%
When you come to
Afrochella, it is

00:00:21.770 --> 00:00:23.600 align:middle line:90%
a one-day festival right now.

00:00:23.600 --> 00:00:24.620 align:middle line:90%
That may change.

00:00:24.620 --> 00:00:26.775 align:middle line:84%
What you're going to experience,
when you walk into the space,

00:00:26.775 --> 00:00:29.150 align:middle line:84%
is you're going to see a
series of art installations

00:00:29.150 --> 00:00:32.270 align:middle line:84%
by some of the best
artists in Ghana right now

00:00:32.270 --> 00:00:33.240 align:middle line:90%
and some from abroad.

00:00:33.240 --> 00:00:35.900 align:middle line:84%
Midichi is one of the
contemporary artists in Ghana

00:00:35.900 --> 00:00:37.850 align:middle line:84%
that I'm excited
about this year.

00:00:37.850 --> 00:00:39.710 align:middle line:84%
Mo Awudu, he is a
spray-paint artist.

00:00:39.710 --> 00:00:43.400 align:middle line:84%
His work has been
featured on BBC, on CNN,

00:00:43.400 --> 00:00:44.650 align:middle line:90%
and various other places.

00:00:44.650 --> 00:00:47.210 align:middle line:84%
Godwin Ashong, he
was the set producer

00:00:47.210 --> 00:00:48.780 align:middle line:90%
for "Beasts of No Nation."

00:00:48.780 --> 00:00:53.070 align:middle line:84%
We have about 40 vendors-- food,
fashion, art vendors as well.

00:00:53.070 --> 00:00:54.320 align:middle line:84%
And, obviously,
we have the music.

00:00:54.320 --> 00:00:57.140 align:middle line:84%
I can't name the
top headliner, but I

00:00:57.140 --> 00:00:58.937 align:middle line:90%
can say we have Tiwa Savage.

00:00:58.937 --> 00:01:01.513 align:middle line:90%
- She's not the top?

00:01:01.513 --> 00:01:02.480 align:middle line:90%
ABDUL KARIM ABDULLAH: She is.

00:01:02.480 --> 00:01:03.280 align:middle line:90%
She is the top.

00:01:03.280 --> 00:01:04.129 align:middle line:90%
She is the top artist.

00:01:04.129 --> 00:01:06.140 align:middle line:84%
But, I mean, I would
say we have Tiwa Savage.

00:01:06.140 --> 00:01:07.270 align:middle line:90%
We have Wande Coal.

00:01:07.270 --> 00:01:09.050 align:middle line:84%
We have Sarkodie,
who's from Ghana.

00:01:09.050 --> 00:01:11.840 align:middle line:84%
We have Samini, who
is a big reggae--

00:01:11.840 --> 00:01:13.980 align:middle line:84%
reggae-- Afro-reggae
artist in Ghana as well.

00:01:13.980 --> 00:01:15.080 align:middle line:84%
And we have an
old-school legend.

00:01:15.080 --> 00:01:17.330 align:middle line:84%
Ofori Amponsah is going
to be performing as well.

00:01:17.330 --> 00:01:18.950 align:middle line:84%
Distruction Boyz
from South Africa.

00:01:18.950 --> 00:01:22.430 align:middle line:84%
You can be sure that you're
going to have a good time.

00:01:22.430 --> 00:01:24.260 align:middle line:84%
You don't really see
something-- you don't

00:01:24.260 --> 00:01:25.910 align:middle line:84%
see something like a
complex magazine, where

00:01:25.910 --> 00:01:27.105 align:middle line:90%
it talks about the creators.

00:01:27.105 --> 00:01:30.260 align:middle line:84%
Or you don't see,
like, blogs that really

00:01:30.260 --> 00:01:32.440 align:middle line:84%
outline what some of
the amazing talents

00:01:32.440 --> 00:01:33.780 align:middle line:90%
that exists on the continent.

00:01:33.780 --> 00:01:35.330 align:middle line:84%
I wanted to be able
to see those stories.

00:01:35.330 --> 00:01:36.450 align:middle line:90%
I wanted to enjoy those stories.

00:01:36.450 --> 00:01:37.950 align:middle line:84%
I wanted to learn about
some of those things.

00:01:37.950 --> 00:01:39.590 align:middle line:84%
When I went back to Ghana,
we had an opportunity

00:01:39.590 --> 00:01:42.140 align:middle line:84%
to create Afrochella, and
Afrochella will give us

00:01:42.140 --> 00:01:44.560 align:middle line:90%
an opportunity to all see it.

00:01:44.560 --> 00:01:46.280 align:middle line:90%
This year is the Year of Return.

00:01:46.280 --> 00:01:48.785 align:middle line:84%
It's the 400-year anniversary
since the first slave

00:01:48.785 --> 00:01:51.100 align:middle line:84%
ships arrived from
West Africa in the US.

00:01:51.100 --> 00:01:54.650 align:middle line:84%
So the president of Ghana,
his honorable Nana Akufo-addo,

00:01:54.650 --> 00:01:56.810 align:middle line:84%
documented this year
as the Year of Return.

00:01:56.810 --> 00:01:59.000 align:middle line:84%
There has been a calling for
the diaspora to come back home,

00:01:59.000 --> 00:02:01.070 align:middle line:84%
and Ghana has been very
welcoming to people

00:02:01.070 --> 00:02:03.120 align:middle line:90%
coming back to the continent.

00:02:03.120 --> 00:02:04.610 align:middle line:84%
So the themes
throughout our artwork,

00:02:04.610 --> 00:02:07.530 align:middle line:84%
you'll see a lot of king, a lot
of gold, a lot of celebration

00:02:07.530 --> 00:02:08.330 align:middle line:90%
of royalty.

00:02:08.330 --> 00:02:10.580 align:middle line:84%
And our hope is to be able
to invite people back home

00:02:10.580 --> 00:02:12.950 align:middle line:84%
and make them feel royal
in their experience

00:02:12.950 --> 00:02:14.160 align:middle line:90%
on the continent.

00:02:14.160 --> 00:02:16.070 align:middle line:84%
We know that it's
difficult for people

00:02:16.070 --> 00:02:18.320 align:middle line:84%
to come to Africa for
just a one-day festival,

00:02:18.320 --> 00:02:20.840 align:middle line:84%
so what we try to do is
give people an experience.

00:02:20.840 --> 00:02:23.070 align:middle line:84%
And it's a full
nine-day experience.

00:02:23.070 --> 00:02:26.040 align:middle line:84%
So people will
definitely get to party.

00:02:26.040 --> 00:02:27.440 align:middle line:84%
They'll be able to
go to amazing sites

00:02:27.440 --> 00:02:29.630 align:middle line:84%
in Accra, like the
Independence Square,

00:02:29.630 --> 00:02:31.730 align:middle line:90%
the Kwame Nkrumah Museum.

00:02:31.730 --> 00:02:33.050 align:middle line:84%
And then they'll
go and they'll try

00:02:33.050 --> 00:02:35.060 align:middle line:84%
a bunch of different
Ghanaian foods,

00:02:35.060 --> 00:02:37.970 align:middle line:90%
like banku, fufu, gari foto.

00:02:37.970 --> 00:02:40.670 align:middle line:84%
We knew that eventually we
wanted it to get this big.

00:02:40.670 --> 00:02:42.710 align:middle line:84%
But in our wildest
dreams, we would

00:02:42.710 --> 00:02:46.250 align:middle line:84%
not have thought that Afrochella
would be where it is right now.

00:02:46.250 --> 00:02:49.460 align:middle line:84%
I really hope that we are
remembered for helping

00:02:49.460 --> 00:02:51.410 align:middle line:84%
bring more people
to the continent,

00:02:51.410 --> 00:02:53.780 align:middle line:84%
that we're a conduit to
getting people to come back

00:02:53.780 --> 00:02:55.370 align:middle line:84%
and invest in the
talent on the continent.

00:02:55.370 --> 00:02:56.170 align:middle line:90%
Right?

00:02:56.170 --> 00:02:57.540 align:middle line:84%
I mean, we're
coming from abroad.

00:02:57.540 --> 00:02:58.340 align:middle line:90%
We can party.

00:02:58.340 --> 00:02:59.580 align:middle line:84%
We can spend our
money in the clubs.

00:02:59.580 --> 00:03:01.280 align:middle line:84%
Then we can spend our money
investing in the people

00:03:01.280 --> 00:03:02.170 align:middle line:90%
on the ground as well.

00:03:02.170 --> 00:03:04.040 align:middle line:90%
So that's the goal.

00:03:04.040 --> 00:03:06.100 align:middle line:90%
Now, you're in the know.

00:03:06.100 --> 00:03:09.000 align:middle line:90%