Wachata Crew and their debut on canvas at NafasiArtspace

By Sanaa & Culture

'Artists Hangout' by Local from Wachata Crew

What gets me with art, every time is the ability it has to make one fly, carve an eternal mark saying ‘I was here’. 

So a couple of months ago, I was at a Graffiti exhibition in Dar es Salaam. 

Yes Graffiti in the west is well associated with hoodlums and gang activities.

However I am sure ‘Wachata Crew’ the artists behind this exhibition in Tanzania; are far from gangsters. If anything one can label them as ‘social activists’. Not to say that the originators and perpetrators of graffiti in USA weren’t activists but well back to ‘Wachata’.

The Mixed Media piece from this Wachata exhibition

The crew which was formed in Dar in 2007 for the first time this year on the 30^th of August launched their first exhibition of graffiti artworks on canvas. This at Nafasi Artspace in conjunction with the center’s end of month ‘chap chap’ session which involves kids learning a few tips from in house artists on fine art.

The crew members who participated in this exhibition include Mawila Khamsini a.k.a. Local, Ahmed Mohammed a.k.a. Medy, Hafidhi Athuman a.k.a Kalasinga and Edward Tibasima a.ka.a Edot. The works on display were grand with bright colors reminiscent of this tradition which uses spray can paint. I learned from the crew that what they accomplished was no mean task

“We don’t use sophisticated spray cans as we’ve no easy means to them. This means despite the consistent size of our spray points, we’ve learned to maneuver our hands to create the images you see here. We’ve recently met a talented graffiti artist from Europe. He couldn’t work with our cans and produce like images…” Medy.

Medy participating in the 'chap chap' on wachata's launch
of their 1st  graffiti on canvas exhibition at Nafasi

One of the artworks that stood out, depicts a fish in a bicolor sea with the title ‘save my world’ by Edot, Medy and Kalasinga. Looking at it you’ll think a paint brush was used. Also a collage which involved all the artists which involved newspaper making it ‘mixed media’ on canvas was thought provoking. Indeed I am excited to see what this crew will keep procuring in this field as they’re truly talented. Their ability to coincide poignant social messages and graffiti is quite inspiring.

Chidi Bike doing his thing

Among the crew members who has taken a clear ease with this art form is Local. One of his works here ‘Artist hangout’. Was my favorite from this exhibition depicting exotic birds, their scale was perfect also he managed to make graffiti romantic without it being awkward. A mean fit if you ask me, as graffiti is known to depict the gruff with sword. However in this exhibit Local took it to subtle ends with a balance of curve and line.

Yet as he would relay “We’ve learned a lot from this first exhibition one being that many customers prefer smaller artworks so they fit inside their homes unlike the big ones we’ve displayed…”

On their launch for this exhibition they also involved friends of ‘wachata’ which include young blokes who are engrossed in the hip hop culture. We had a female hip hop MC, a DJ from Puerto Rico as well kids playing with bicycles including Rashid Hamadi a.k.a Chidi Bike who was a beast on that thing.