Che Kothari and the Long Way Around Culture
Written by Rhiannon Frater
If you try to explain Che Kothari’s career by listing job titles, you will go on and on.
Photographer. Producer. Manager. Curator. Executive.
All accurate.
Kothari’s work lives in the spaces between those labels. He shows up where creative energy needs structure, and where structure risks draining the life out of creativity.
What makes his story unusual is not scale or access. It is the duration. Two decades of steady involvement across music, film, visual art, policy, and community building. He built the momentum through relationships, trust, and a willingness to stay longer than most people do.
His story is not about chasing culture; it is about staying with it.
Photography Without Distance
Kothari’s photography developed around intimacy. His portraits often feel closer than expected. Less like documentation, more like conversation. Over time, his work included musicians, poets, and cultural figures whose influence stretched far beyond their local scenes.The images traveled. Exhibitions appeared across Canada, the United States, Jamaica, India, and Japan. Sometimes in formal galleries. Sometimes in public spaces.
What stands out is not scale. It is consistency.
Even when the subjects were globally known, the approach stayed grounded. No excess. No spectacle for its own sake.
When the Camera Was Not Enough
There came a point where photography alone felt incomplete. Not insufficient creatively, but insufficient structurally.Manifesto Community Projects emerged from that thinking. What began as a grassroots initiative grew into one of Canada’s most influential youth-driven arts organizations. It became a festival, an education platform, a media producer, and a mentorship network.
More importantly, it became infrastructure.
That word matters.
Infrastructure survives beyond individuals.
Curating Culture in Public Space
Kothari’s curatorial work expanded the conversation. One of his most recognized projects, 40 Years of Hip Hop Photography, framed hip hop as living history rather than a trend. Presented during Toronto’s CONTACT Photography Festival, the exhibition traced decades of culture through portraiture.It did not sanitize the story. It documented it.
He followed this with projects like We Are Lawrence, a community-based photo exhibition that highlighted residents along Lawrence Avenue East.
Public art initiatives followed. He curated Nuit Blanche Toronto, featuring works by more than 100 artists. The Fresh Eyes project is tied to the Pan Am Games. Inside Out Toronto, which turned city walls into platforms for community storytelling.
Public art is exposed by design. It invites disagreement. It invites critique.
Kothari seemed comfortable with that.
Writing and Speaking in Parallel
Alongside visual and curatorial work, Kothari developed a parallel presence as a writer and interviewer. His contributions to platforms like The Huffington Post Canada focused on art, activism, spirituality, and culture. The writing avoided certainty. It leaned into reflection.He took on the role of on-camera host for a VICE TV show, which captured him traveling through Bogota and Medellin, Colombia, interviewing arts practitioners on how culture transformed them and their communities, coming out from the shadows of years of violence in the region.
He has also hosted interviews and conversations with photographers, musicians, and cultural historians. These were not promotional exchanges. They were slow conversations about process, memory, and responsibility. You know, the things that rarely trend.
Moving into Film
Film entered the picture gradually. It allowed Kothari to combine image, sound, narrative, and collaboration at scale. He served as co-producer on the feature film Bazodee and later as creative producer on Netflix’s Hip Hop Evolution.Both projects demanded different skills. One leaned narrative. The other archival.
He later served as executive producer on Neptune Frost, a film that blended Afrofuturism, politics, and poetry.
Film work, in his case, was never about authorship alone. It was about stewardship.
Music Videos and Visual Language
Music videos became another extension of his visual practice. Over the years, Kothari worked as director, producer, or co-producer on projects spanning hip hop, reggae, and soca.The visual language remained consistent. Mood over flash. Narrative over gimmick.
Some videos were subtle. Others energetic. But none felt disposable.
That consistency is easy to overlook. It is also difficult to sustain.
Albums, Credits, and Quiet Influence
Kothari’s involvement in music extends deeply into album development. He has served as A and R executive, co-producer, and executive producer across multiple projects.Later came Eternal Echoes, Sadhguru’s poetry album released in August 2024. The project required coordination across spoken word, music, and spiritual content. Kothari held multiple roles throughout its creation.
Albums like that are fragile systems. Push too hard, and they fracture. Step back too far, and they lose direction.
Balance matters.
Additional A and R Work
Beyond headline projects, Kothari’s A and R contributions span numerous collaborations. Some are well known. Others remain largely behind the scenes.That is often how A and R works.
It is influence without visibility. Guidance without ownership. Shaping without branding.
Honestly, it suits his temperament.
Artist Management as a Relationship
Kothari’s long-standing partnership with Machel Montano stands out not for longevity alone, but for depth. Their collaboration spans albums, tours, documentaries, and global performances.Management, in this context, is not transactional. It is relational.
Through Gifted Management, Kothari applied that approach more broadly. The company supports artists through creative direction, business strategy, and personal development. It does not promise speed. It prioritizes sustainability.
Not everyone wants that.
Some do.
Spirituality and Practice
Spiritual practice plays a visible role in Kothari’s life. Meditation and yoga are not branding tools for him; they are part of his daily discipline. He has even spent a total of 100 days in full silence in two parts (once 10 days and 90 days another time).Being an official PADI AmbassaDiver, he has also spoken about the influence of scuba diving on his worldview. Underwater, systems behave differently. Pressure changes everything. That metaphor appears often in his thinking.
Personal Life and Rhythm
Kothari splits his time between Toronto, Los Angeles, Trinidad, and international travel. He remains closely connected to creative communities across continents.Mentorship happens frequently and informally. Conversations. Introductions. Quiet guidance. No announcements. Just work.
Why It Sticks
Che Kothari’s career resists summary. There is no single breakthrough moment to point to. No clean headline. Instead, there is accumulation.Projects are layered over the years and cross-pollinate with each other. Relationships have been built carefully. Institutions strengthened rather than consumed.
In an industry that rewards speed, his work values durability.
Final Words
Some cultural figures chase the spotlight. Others build the room that holds it.Che Kothari has spent much of his career doing the second thing. The work happens behind the scenes, between disciplines, and across communities.
It is not loud, but it lasts.
And in culture, that might be the most meaningful measure of all.
