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CHETAN KOTHARI
Capturing Culture, Empowering Communities, and Inspiring Global Change through Art and Advocacy
CULTURE. OPPORTUNITY. CHANGE. LOVE.
These few words sum up what Chetan Kothari, affectionately known as ‘Che’, stands for. Born on October 12th, 1983, he quickly became a revered photographer, role model and leader within his community. Che is dedicated to nurturing growth in other young artists and leaders in the cities he lives in and the world at large.
Fresh out of school, he focused his lens on documenting artists of our time – those artists who have a message of social change embedded into their storytelling. He has photographed intimate portrait sessions with the likes of Damian & Ziggy Marley, Nas, Erykah Badu, Ashanti, Ice Cube of NWA, Chuck D of Public Enemy, Common, Cypress Hill, A Tribe Called Quest, Talib Kweli, Dead Prez and many others as personal work and for covers of magazines.
These images have been a part of over 100 exhibitions, from museums to the streets in Toronto, Canada, Kingston, Jamaica, New York, USA, Tokyo, Japan, Bombay, India and more.
PRESENTING GLOBAL FINDINGS AND FOSTERING INTERNATIONAL COLLABORATION
The international work of Manifesto stems from another project in which Che was involved. In 2008, Che became the Executive Director for Ignite the Americas Youth Arts Policy Forum. This initiative brought together young artists, industry professionals, policy experts and government authorities from 30 countries across the Americas to explore and develop effective ways to amplify the power that arts and culture have in mitigating violence and poverty, building social inclusion and generating economic opportunities for communities.
Making sure that all the findings of the forum didn’t just sit on a shelf and collect dust, Che went on a mission and presented the findings:
in Barbados at the Fourth Inter-American Meeting on Culture of the Organization of American States for Cultural Ministers and Highest Appropriate Authorities,
to The Inter-American Committee on Culture of the OAS in Washington,
to the Ibero-American Congress on Culture in Sao Paulo, Brazil and at the UN-Habitat Safer Cities forum at Harvard University as well as
to artists and arts practitioners on a grassroots level in his day-to-day environments.
Che was a delegate for Canadian Heritage at the Summit of the Americas and continues to build his artistic networks hemispherically and globally, both learning from and sharing the abundance of knowledge that exists.
FOUNDING MANIFESTO COMMUNITY PROJECTS:
EMPOWERING YOUTH THROUGH ARTS AND CULTURE
Although Che had ample opportunity to focus solely on photography and play a role in helping to document artistic leaders of our time and support individuals and organizations in building their brands, he knew he had a responsibility to do more. The next step for Che was building the award-winning non-profit organization Manifesto Community Projects, of which he served as the Executive Director for seven years and now resides as the organization's Chair of the Board of Directors.
Manifesto’s mission is to unite, inspire and empower diverse groups of young people through arts & culture. Manifesto’s main initiative is a multi-day annual festival. Growing to be the largest and most unique festival of its kind, the annual Manifesto Festival of Community & Culture brings together countless community members, artists, performers, and audience members to showcase local youth culture, strengthen foundations by building a collective sense of pride and possibility, and provide a stage for voices that are often marginalized from mainstream arts festivals.
In addition to the festival, Manifesto hosts year-round educational opportunities for local artists & arts entrepreneurs, produces independent media, runs a programming space and has plans to embark on the development of social enterprise businesses to support artists and ensure the organization’s long-term sustainability.
Che also co-founded a sister organization of Manifesto in Kingston, Jamaica, which was instrumental in the Reggae Revival moment we are witnessing today. The festival has incredible performing artist alumni from Jhené Aiko, Anderson, Paak, Amine, Davido, DVSN, Chronixx, Koffee, Daniel Caesar, Kaytranada, Ryan Leslie, Jessie Reyez, Charlotte Day Wilson, Mustafa the Poet and so many more — over 500 more. The festival has had over 500,000 attendees since its inception.
CHAMPIONING COMMUNITY VOICES AND TRANSFORMING TORONTO'S CULTURAL LANDSCAPE
Che’s work extends outward from within these organizations, often sitting on boards or leading other groups. He has sat on the City of Toronto’s planning committee, reshaping the community arts action plan and the Toronto Arts Council Advocacy Advisory. Che was only one of seven people chosen for the Mayor’s Blue-ribbon panel for the City of Toronto Creative Capitol Gains Advisory, which developed a 10-year plan for Toronto’s cultural division.
He was also a member of:
The City of Toronto’s Music Advisor,
Steering Committee for ArtReach Toronto,
Daniel’s Spectrum (voted best new Cultural Centre/Venue in Canada),
Regent Park Arts & Cultural Centre’s Programming Advisory,
the 2015 Pan Am Games Cultural Advisory and
Civic Action’s Steering Committee.
In all these positions, Che brings a voice to the table that is representative of the communities he is a part of and is often one of the only voices of this nature. Che has been working and advocating for more spaces to be open for more voices from his various communities to be at these tables and has been successful many times.
One of the biggest achievements in Che’s advocacy was co-founding the BeautifulCity.ca Movements and chairing its mobilization committee. This led to putting a fee on the billboard industry in Toronto, which raised approximately $18 million annually—earmarked for public youth arts initiatives in marginalized communities.
A big part of Che’s mission is to share what he has learned along the way, and he regularly involves young people in his projects to gain experience. He has also led many workshops, talks, and month-long mentorship programs and has mentored over 30 young people to date. Che has been recognized for his work with multiple awards and acknowledgements, including the Mayor’s Cultural Leadership Award and The Toronto Community Foundation’s Vital People award.
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DRIVING ARTISTIC EXCELLENCE AND GLOBAL IMPACT THROUGH GIFTED MANAGEMENT AND MONK MUSIC
Che’s latest pursuit involves managing and supporting artists' work through his Management and Creative Services company Gifted Management. Through Gifted, he has played a role in the careers of artists like Ms. Lauryn Hill, Machel Montano, Chronixx, Protoje, Mustafa the Poet and more.
Che co-owns and is the CEO of MONK Music, a label that controls over 3500 copyrights and distributes over USD 1M in royalties to Caribbean creatives annually.
Che has also Executive Produced an award-winning documentary and feature film and was the on-camera host for a VICE travel and culture TV show. Che has hosted successful music writing camps for artists in Greece, the USA, Trinidad & Tobago, Jamaica, India, and Canada. He is a partner in Hollywood Carnival, which celebrated its 10th anniversary in 2024 and hosts eight events over four days annually, including the largest Carnival parade route in North America.
Che is determined to make a difference in his community, hoping that emerging and established artists will shape and follow his lead. Whether through photography, film, gatherings, mentoring or management, Che leads with the utmost passion for what he does— instigate change.