Accra: Revelers at this year’s Chale Wote Street Art Festival expressed deep emotions following the screening of Ota Benga, a film chronicling the tragic life of a Congolese man exhibited in a human zoo in the early 20th century.

According to Ghana News Agency, the screening, held at the Nationalism Park, drew a diverse audience, including many from the African Diaspora, who described the experience as both painful and enlightening. Ota Benga was purchased from slave traders in Congo and taken to the United States, where in 1906 he was infamously exhibited at the Bronx Zoo’s Monkey House alongside an orangutan, an act widely condemned as an assault on his humanity.

Introducing the film, multidisciplinary artist, Mr. Morris Frimpong-Manso, said the project aimed to awaken African consciousness and challenge ongoing forms of racial injustice and exploitation. As the Project Lead of the ‘Colony of Congo’ initiative, he stressed the persistence of the legacy of slave trade in new forms, even though slavery and colonialism may have ended.

Mr. Frimpong-Manso highlighted that the experiences faced by Ota Benga continue today, manifesting as financial, emotional, cultural, and spiritual entrapments. He urged Africa to foster its ingenuity, growth, and advancement to overcome these challenges. He explained that his team had earlier produced a 2015 documentary on Ota Benga, but felt the story, and others like it, remained under-told, prompting them to reintroduce it through the Chale Wote platform.

The screening sparked intense conversations around colonial legacies, the exploitation of African resources, and the human toll of systemic racism. Many in the audience drew parallels between Ota Benga’s dehumanization and contemporary struggles in the Democratic Republic of Congo, where conflicts over cobalt and mineral wealth continue to harm communities.

Madam Marcia Banasko, a UK-based political commentator, found the film disturbing, noting her awareness of human zoos in Belgium and the United Kingdom. She emphasized that systemic and institutional racism continues to rise, resonating with ongoing discrimination, and called for African unity to manage resources and prioritize education.

Mr. Nicholas Adzaho, a Ghanaian participant, added that the film not only highlighted injustice but also underscored how young people’s ideas were often overlooked in Africa’s developmental agenda. The emotional screening left many in the audience reflective, reinforcing the festival’s role as a platform for dialogue on Africa’s past, present, and future.