Charmaine Chanakira x Don Letts: Dutchie,

2025,

Footnotes

"What really stuck with me from my chat with Don Letts was how much our stories overlap, even though we come from different generations. We connected through that shared, visceral experience of being Black and British, navigating identity, culture and creativity all at once. His stories hit something deep because they echoed what I've lived too, just in a different time. I grew up listening to tracks like Pass the Dutchie, which he had a hand in shaping. That song is pure nostalgia for my generation, a cultural heartbeat. So I wanted to honour that in the artwork, to bridge our worlds and celebrate the creative legacy that comes from our shared roots."
- Charmaine Chanakira

Charmaine Chanakira is a Zimbabwean-born, London-based Afro-expressionist painter who draws on her dual heritage and the emotional complexities of belonging to craft vivid, layered visual narratives. Her practice combines bold colour, expressive lines and a mix of media—acrylics, oil pastels and pen to merge influences from Japanese manga, contemporary African art and neo-expressionism. Through her art, Chanakira investigates themes of mental health, migration, race and gender, inviting the viewer into her personal and communal journey.

Don Letts is a British-born filmmaker, DJ, musician and cultural pioneer. He emerged at the crossroads of London's punk and reggae scenes in the late 1970s. Raised in London of Jamaican heritage, Letts played a key role at the iconic venue The Roxy where his mash-up of punk attitude and dub-reggae rhythms helped galvanise a new era of sound and style. He directed the influential Super-8 film The Punk Rock Movie (1978), documenting seminal acts such as The Clash and the Sex Pistols. In 1984 he co-founded the genre-bending band Big Audio Dynamite (with former Clash guitarist Mick Jones); Letts later expanded into documentary filmmaking, music videos (over 300 credits) and radio broadcasting (Culture Clash Radio on BBC Radio 6 Music)

Provenance:
Donated directly by the artists to In Place of War for this sale.
All proceeds from the sale of this Lot will go to the charity In Place Of War, which is a global organisation that uses creativity in places of conflict as a tool for positive change.

MUSIC SHAPED is a project from non-profit organisation In Place of War that pairs musical and cultural icons with exceptional visual artists to create works reflecting how music has influenced their lives. The collaboration begins with a recorded conversation between the visual artist and musician, and results in the creation of a brand new artwork reflecting their conversations and creative journeys.

In Place of War is a UK-based, global organisation that uses artistic creativity in places impacted by conflict and climate change as a tool for positive change. In Place of War supports grassroots change-makers in music, theatre and visual art, to transform cultures of violence and suffering into hope, opportunity and freedom. Starting as a research project at the University of Manchester in 2004, initial research findings spurred practical projects and programming. Twenty years later, In Place of War works with a change-maker network of 130 creative organisations across 30 countries, all making lasting change in their communities. Artist ambassadors and fellow supporters include Brian Eno, Peter Gabriel, Martin Aitkens, Ed O'Brien, Peter Hook, Laurie Anderson and Nitin Sawhney.

Proceeds from the sale of MUSIC SHAPED artworks will support In Place of War's #HackMusic Programme, which provides critical catalyst funding to support the development of essential life-changing music projects with indigenous communities; LGBTQI+ artists; artists in conflict zones; and artists responding to the climate crisis.

For more information please visit: https://www.inplaceofwar.net/