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Africa Consortium Member's News

Assitej South Africa 

South Africa represented on the Bureau of Assitej International.

Assitej South Africa's Chairperson, Yvette Hardie, was elected to the position of Treasurer to the organisation, by the General Assembly at the 16th World Congress of Assitej International in Adelaide, Australia. This is a great opportunity for South Africa and for Africa to have a strong voice in the international community of theatre for young people. The other African candidate elected to the Executive Committee was Hope Azeda (Rwanda) for her second term in office.

Children Of Conflict 

Assitej South Africa are participating in a programme called Children of Conflict, which brings together young people from Rwanda, the USA, Kosovo and now South Africa, via the internet. These young people are facilitated in discussions and debates on issues of importance to them, and share their personal experiences with people from other cultures and countries. This web-based interaction will serve as the basis for the creation of theatrical pieces, addressing common issues.

Assitej South Africa seeks funding for the Creative Voices programme 

Assitej South Africa are looking for funding to export the Creative voices programme (an integrated arts approach to the creation of original workshopped pieces by children for children) to Rwanda and Swaziland. This would mean that practitioners from these countries would be trained to run Creative Voices in their own environments – a very exciting initiative indeed.

Nelson Fernandez is leaving Visiting Arts

Nelson Fernandez, Director of Cultural Operations, is to leave Visiting Arts. Nelson was the driving force behind many of Visiting Arts’ greatest successes for the past twelve years. During this time he was involved in the setting up of the Africa Consortium and has served on the Advisory Committee. Nelson will continue to be based in London, working as an independent consultant in the field of international arts and culture, developing projects in the UK and around the world. He will sit on the Consortium's new Advisory Committee as an independant advisor.

Hall For Cornwall: Joseph Mydell joins cast of Barabus Nelson

Internationally acclaimed actor Joseph Mydell has been confirmed to appear in Barabas at Hall for Cornwall this autumn.

Barabas, the largest show being made in Cornwall this year, is a funny tale full of mischievous double-dealing. Joseph will join a cast of Cornish and international actors and musicians.

Joseph has recently been seen playing the title role in Breakfast with Mugabe, a new play which premiered at the Royal Shakespeare Theatre and Jacques in As You Like It. Joseph received fantastic personal notices for both plays.
Trained at New York University's School of the Arts Joseph’s theatre credits for the RSC include Gower in Pericles, Camillo in The Winter’s Tale, Patterson in The Prisoner’s Dilemma, Antonio in Twelfth Night, Satan in The Mysteries, title role in Everyman and Bloody Sergeant/Scottish Doctor in Macbeth.

Joseph, who has worked in America many times including appearing on Broadway, received an Olivier Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role for his performance in Angels in America. He has also been seen on the small screen in the UK, appearing in Trial and Retribution, Doctors and Bergerac to name but a few.

Joseph is delighted to be appearing in HfC’s Barabas and says: “Sir Anthony Sher, a year ago directed me in a new play, Breakfast with Mugabe at the RSC. It was his directorial debut. I told him I was to play Barabas and he was excited and said he wanted to come and see it. I find that encouraging since he was so good at getting me to play Mugabe, a bit of monster.”

“The difference with the Marlowe is I think I will have more 'fun' playing such a 'full-on' character from Renaissance England, which was a hotbed of political intrigue.”

Joseph said he that while he has visited the region before it’s never been for long enough and he is looking forward to spending the late summer/early autumn in Cornwall. “My dear friend, the actress Claire Bloom says it is the most beautiful place in Britain. She filmed The Camomile Lawn in Cornwall and with her daughter, opera singer Anna Steiger, often comes to visit.”

“I plan to rent a car on my days off and explore Cornwall and already friends in London as well as my daughter are planning to come! I'd like to think it is because of me but I know Cornwall is the draw!!!!”

Barabas will run from 26th September to Saturday 4th October at 8pm – with matinees on Thursday 2nd October at 1pm and Saturday 4th October at 2.30pm. Tickets are from £8-£15.50 with concessions available. An 85p Theatre Fund payment is added to each ticket sold. Book online at www.hallforcornwall.co.uk or call the Box Office on: 01872 262 466.
Keep updated with the production process by reading Anna Coombs' director's blog on Hall for Cornwall’s website – head to Barabas in the What’s On section of www.hallforcornwall.co.uk

New Director for Action Transport Theatre Company

Action Transport Theatre Company has announced the appointment of their new Director Sarah Clover, who will be joining the company in September 2008. Sarah originally worked for the company as General Manager/Deputy Chief Exec. before leaving in 2006 to work in the USA for WebPlay, the international arts education charity.

Sarah will take up her new role to coincide with the third national retour of The Bomb this Autumn, a co-production with The Dukes Theatre, Lancaster.

For mor einformation go to www.actiontransporttheatre.co.uk/

New members Mashirika Creative and Performing Arts Group to tour UK in the Autumn

Mashirika – "Africa's Hope" Tour 2008 (RWANDA)

Following the highly successful 2006 tour of the Rwandan youth theatre and dance group, Mashirika, The Aegis Trust (a UK-based genocide prevention charity) have invited Mashirika to return to the UK for a 10-week tour in Autumn 2008 with their latest play "Africa's Hope".

Mashirika is a Rwandan youth theatre company consisting of survivors and refugees from the Rwandan genocide. Mashirika were invited to perform their play, Rwanda My Hope at the G8 Gleneagles Summit, as well as at the 10th anniversary of the Rwandan genocide in Kigali, and have performed throughout the UK. This performance, Africa’s Hope, tells the story of the Rwandan genocide, its aftermath and Rwanda’s road towards a hopeful future.

Mashirika will hold performances in both schools and theatres, and conduct a variety of dance, drama and music workshops across the UK. The tour includes venues in London, Leeds, Lincoln, Somerset and Nottingham and the company will be doing workshops in schools Monday – Friday relating to racism and prejudice in the context of the Rwandan genocide. They are looking for “partners, support from the African Arts scene in the UK, promotion of the tour and connections with partners in it.”

For more information about the 2008 tour go to www.aegistrust/mashirika

and go to our Events page for a detailed tour schedule.

Eckhard Thiemann to curate a season of new African Dance productions for the Attakkalari India Biennial 2009 in Bangalore

Africa Consortium member Eckhard Thiemann is working with the Attakkalari India Biennial 2009 in Bangalore as a curator for a season of new dance productions from Africa. The dance festival takes place from 6 – 15 February 2009 in Bangalore.

This will be the first major Africa – India contemporary dance exchange. For further information contact Eckhard@eckhardthiemann.com or http://www.attakkalari.org

He is also sourcing potential dance touring productions for the UK for June 2009 and late 2009. For further information contact Eckhard@eckhardthiemann.com

Africa Consortium welcomes new member Assitej South Africa

Assitej SA has joined the Africa Consortium - the fifth member from Africa in the last two months. It is a network organisation for all individuals, organisations and companies that work in the area of theatre for children and young people. The organisation promotes exchanges, touring, festivals, workshops, forums, collaborations nationally, continentally and internationally.

Assitej SA has members that include actors, musicians, dancers, directors, choreographers, theatre educators, stage designers and dramatists, as well as theatre companies, organisations and institutions, critics and cultural journalists, culture officers, amateur drama groups, organisers and societies. It works to promote international awareness of South African theatre for children and young people, by organising exchanges and guest performances and by facilitating contacts. Members are given access to a global network of information about festivals, performances, courses and seminars all over the world, with the potential to participate in these activities.

Yvette Hardie, who is Chairperson of Assitej SA as well as Communications Officer of ACYTA (the continental network of Assitej chapters) and Treasurer of Assitej International (the umbrella organisation). said "We feel that we have something important to contribute to the Africa Consortium, particularly as our focus on theatre for children and young people is a unique and crucial one. Intercultural exchange is at the heart of both ACYTA, and Africa Consortium, so it would seem that we share goals, interests and priorities.

Nanzikambe Arts: Culture in Motion(Malawi), one of the new African Companies to join the Consortium is looking for partners

Nanzikambe Arts www.nanzikambe.org- the latest African company to join the Africa Consortium, is looking for partners in a project that is already under development in the UK with the Soho Theatre. African partners in this project are The Market Theatre from South Africa and Tumkuka Dance from Zimbabwe. In addition Nanzikambe has won funding from the British Council and the Norwegian Embassy to implement the programme of work

Nanzikambe is looking for: 4 British performers and a writer with an interest in the region, the issues around the Zimbabwe crisis, and the relationship between Africa and the West, strong physical performance skills, and a devising background. The performance will blend dance, song, mask – drawing upon the mythical heritage in Zimbabwe – with clearly defined character-led text."

For project Brief see Seeking Partners section of Project In Development page. For a full project descriiption contact the Africa Consortium - mollie@ukarts.com

Black Arts Alliance (BAA), a member of the Africa Consortium, fights threat of funding cut.

Arts Council England- North West are considering disinvestment in Black Arts Alliance on July 4th 2008. BAA is fighting to save their funding and are calling on other artists and arts organisations to join them in their protest.

For 23 years, Black Arts Alliance has worked to profile the creativity within diverse Black communities.
BAA’s work includes schools; prisons; the highly successful series of In My Father’s House work; and of course ACTS OF ACHIEVEMENT, the North West celebration of Black History month.

The Arts Council has stated that it is still considering what action to take which offers hope that it may well continue to support BAA. With only 5 weeks to go BAA has activated a campaign of support calling on colleagues, fellow artists, workshop participants and their audience, to help re-secure its Arts Council funding.

They have asked that anyone who has attended a BAA workshop, training event, performance or exhibition and considered it to be of creative and social value should log onto http://www.blackartists.org.uk and hit the orange box "WE’RE GREAT BECAUSE WE ARE UNITED " which will take you to the petition link page.
Alternatively, you can post your testimony to be scanned and added (unedited) to the website to:

BAA. PO Box 86 Manchester M21 7BA

Black Arts Alliance has said that though it "is not entering into open combat with Arts Council, if we wait until July 4th BAA’s future could become history".
Their aim is to convince the Arts Council that:

• BAA is a valuable asset to the arts in the region.
• BAA's work in education, the community, prisons and its targeted work with Black men must continue.

Support for the campaign has come from as far afield as the USA and Europe as well as from across the UK with Africa Consortium members adding their voices to the campaign asking the Arts Council to rethink this decision.

Felix Cross of Nitro has said ”Cutting BAA represents a real threat to black arts provision in the North West region. I am concerned that this is being done without any strategic thought which, in the light of other cuts made recently, has not shown ACE in a very positive light”.

Rani Moorthy of rasa has said: "BAA is a very important and significant organisation in giving a voice to black artists, especially those who are at the beginning of their career and isolated. When I first joined the arts community in Manchester in 1999 I remember how Suandi and BAA offered a sense of fellowship and mentorship, a forum for debate and an artistic environment that nurtured all artists as equals. It's the only viable black organisation especially in the North West and I dread it's potential loss to the arts community. I want to support BAA and it's future".

Larry Coke of Gyenyame said:” Gyenyame use the expert support and advice of BAA for venue, contact and general information on a regular basis. The loss of BAA would mean the loss of a great partner in some of our projects such as Mary Seacole at Bridgewater Hall.”

To join the BAA campaign visit: http://www.blackartists.org.uk

Theatrical Management Association(TMA) Awards go to Africa Consortium members

Jan Ryan of UK Arts International has been awarded The Eclipse Award for her work in presenting and producing culturally diverse work.

This award is given to an individual or organisation that has done most to further the aims of the Arts Council England Eclipse Report which addresses the promotion of cultural diversity in the performing arts. This award is supported by Arts Council England.

Hall For Cornwall received The Renee Stepham Award for the Presentation of Touring Theatre for it's contribution to the cultural economy of the UK

Africa Consortium member, Visiting Arts UK, announces Award.

Visiting Arts has announced that Nelson Fernandez, their Director of Cultural Operations, has been made a Chevalier of France’s Order of Arts and Letters. The award was made by the French Minister of Culture and Communications, Mme Christine Albanel.

Eclipse Theatre producer, Gemma Emmanuel-Waterton to leave

Eclispe Theatre producer, Gemma Emmanuel-Waterton is to leave the company to be a freelance producer/project manager. The Eclipse Theatre Comsortium consistes of two Africa Consortium members, The New Wolsey Theatre, Ipswich and The Birmingham Rep in partnership with the West Yorkshire Playhouse.

The Eclipse Theatre consortium will shortly be seeking an Artistic Director and Trainee Producer to take Eclipse forward. This has the potential to be a truly exciting development for both the black and wider theatre sectors and of course the successful candidates.

For details of the posts go to www.eclipsetheatre.org.uk

In the meantime, Eclipse is transferring operations to West Yorkshire Playhouse and the contact will be Henrietta Duckworth, Producer at West Yorkshire Playhouse 0113 217 7229 henrietta.duckworth@wyp.org.uk

"Wilberforce Women", a Visiting Arts UK project tours to Iceland and Poland

“Wilberforce Women", an inspiring story about working internationally, which promotes international development between women through photography is to head to Poland and Iceland in June 2008.

Since the project was founded in 2005 as part of Hull's involvement in the Bicentenary of the Abolition of the British Slave Trade, it has worked to forge links between women of Kingston upon Hull in East Yorkshire with women in the twin city of Freetown in Sierra Leone, West Africa.

In February 2007, with funding from Arts Council England and British Council, we delivered basic skills photography workshops to 58 women in Freetown. The women are extremely keen to learn media skills which might help them secure a career, earn an income, explore creative expression or advocate for change on issues which affect them. Their images of pride, freedom, belief and change, which together with the images taken by the women of Hull, were exchanged as postcards and greetings cards and exhibited in major photographic exhibitions in Freetown and at The Ferens in Hull under the title "Greetings!".



Photos: A selection of images taken by Hull/Freetown women

The Hull event was officially opened by the MP Meg Munn, and the exhibition was alsoattended by the Mayor of Freetown, the Mayoress of Hull and William Wilberforce, a direct descendant of the anti-slavery campaigner.
Now, with funding from Arts Council England and following initial contact made with women photographers in Europe, we are to introduce the concept of Wilberforce Women to women in Hull's sister cities of Reykjavik in Iceland and Szczecin in Poland. We also invite them to join the women in Hull and Freetown and contribute photographs for Mothers 2009 which will form four major photographic exhibitions in each of the four cities during summer 2009. To stage the exhibitions we are actively seeking funding and sponsorship.

Mothers 2009 will be a further visual exchange between artists, and encourage cross-cultural exchange of ideas, expertise and creativity and raise awareness of women's lives in our twin and sister cities.” Lee Karen Stow May 2008

Lee Karen Stow is an international photojournalist based in Hull. If you would like to know more about Wilberforce Women and Mothers 2009, please contact:

Lee Karen Stow: Telephone 07947 110504 Email: leestow@wtf.karoo.co.uk
Fiona Caley: Telephone 07972 628022 Email: fiona_caley@yahoo.co.uk

The Africa Consortium welcomes it's first three members from Africa

The first three African companies have joined the Consortium. They are Associação Cultural Tambo Tambulani Tambo (Cultural Association Tambo Tambulani Tambo) from Mozambique, Black Curtain Theatre Movement from South Africa and the Supreme Performing Arts Theatre (SPAT) from Lesotho. Kgauhelo Dube of Black Curtain Theatre Movement said “As a young theatre company, we value collaborations with well-established and respected practitioners and see the Africa Consortium UK as a great platform to spark interesting collaborations”.

We are currently in discussion with other African companies and artists and hope that we will attract many more members from Africa this year as well as from the UK.

Recent UK additions to the membership are Rasa (South Asian, New Writing, Narrative Drama), Gyenyame for Performing Arts and Eckhard Thiemann, an independent arts and dance manager, formerly director of member organisation Woking Dance Festival.

Mankell On Africa - a new Company Of Angels' project

Consortium member Company Of Angels is currently working on Director John Retallack's adaptation of Henning Mankell's I Die But The Memory Lives On in collaboration with Croyden Clocktower.

For more information go to http://www.companyofangels-uk.org

or contact: Vanessa Fagan at general manager@companyofangels.co.uk

Action Transport publish "The Skeleton Key"

Africa Consortium member Action Transport has published a new book "The Skeleton Key"

This publication is for writers, directors, teachers, students and anyone interested in making new plays which have a writer at the heart of the process.

This book contains contributions from some of the UK’s leading writers and companies working in young people’s theatre. It offers an insight info how leading professional theatre makers practice their craft.

To order a copy for £10 (plus £1.50 p&p) visit:http://www.actiontransporttheatre.co.ukemail:

or email: info@actiontransporttheatre.co.uk

Salisbury International Festival

Rainbow Choir is subject of a documentary film

This is a film about a man, an extraordinary man, a teacher who has committed his life to bringing music into the lives of his pupils. This is a film about his pupils, their relationships with this father-like figure, their passion for music, their dreams and ambitions. This is a film about modern day South Africa in which blacks are still struggling to find their voice.

For more information and to see trailer go to: http://www.salisburyfestival.co.uk/cms/site/news/fezeka-school-choir.aspx

Other News

3rd Annual Shades Of Black Theatre Festival takes place in Nashville

Going Back To Where I've Never Been

The Griot Theatre Ensemble opened this one-woman show at the Shades of Black Theater Festival in Nashville. It starred actress, director (The Desire) and MTSU theater professor Jacqueline Springfield, whose 60-minute performance recounts the experience of her first-time journey to Ghana, West Africa. Delivering her narrative in a very deliberate present tense, Springfield brings her audience along on the sojourn, as her preconceived notions meet stark reality and she endures the full force of culture shock.

The purpose of the Shades of Black Theater Showcase is to provide an artist outlet to Nashville and surrounding cities, as well as to provide a platform for actors, directors, producers, writers and theatre enthusiasts to network and learn.

For more information about the Festival go to:

www.shadesofblackfestival.com

Siyaya Arts from Zimbabwe launch new website

The new Siyaya website has now been launched. To know more about Siyaya and their artists, their 20th anniverssary celebrations plans, News, or to see/download photos, watch videos, listen to music, book shows, buy CDs, check their tour/live dates, join the mailing list or just sign the guest book go to http://siyaya-arts.com

South Africa: Khayelitsha Schools Highlight Rape At Theatre

Article taken from the Cape Argus (Cape Town) 18 July 2008

from an article by Yugendree Naidoo

Pupils from primary schools in Khayelitsha, for whom violence against women and children is often an unfortunate part of their daily lives, are getting the chance to express their thoughts and emotions through theatre, thanks to various plays being performed at the Baxter Theatre.

The performances, which started on Wednesday and run until today, are part of the annual Masibambisane Youth Festival which educates youngsters on social issues which affect them. The festival is a joint venture between the Baxter Theatre and various non-government organisations.

Masibambisane Youth Festival artistic director Mluleki Sam said each play was developed by 15 to 20 pupils from each school, under the watchful eye of a facilitator.

"We appreciate the learners' input, as it is important to know what is affecting them on the ground.

"By raising awareness we hope to educate the pupils so that they will not want to perpetrate such acts when they are older and also so that they will know how to seek help if they or someone they know is victimised," he said.

Eluxolweni Primary School Grade 6 pupil Zimie Figenu, 11, said it was wonderful to be part of a play that was educating people about rape and HIV/ Aids.

She said it was important to educate people "that it is illegal and not okay to rape someone", as there were people who did not understand this.

Of her role in one of the plays as a woman who contracted HIV after being raped, Zimie said it was "a little difficult" and that she had had to "show a lot of emotion".

But she said she felt "great and wonderful" after her performance.

Another pupil, Siphosethu Nolokwe, who is in Grade 7 at Yomelela Primary School, said she hoped she had "taught people what it feels like to be raped, as it often happens to children in my community".

She said she had played the role of the friend of the rape survivor and hoped the message of how deeply rape affects people had been communicated effectively.

"It's sad because victims struggle to cope, as it eats them inside," Siphosethu said.

Nkazimlo Primary School Grade 7 pupil Thandile Galeni said that in spite of the excitement of being on stage, he hoped that the play had communicated the message that people should stop raping, because it was happening to too many people.

Africalia

The Harare International Festival of the Arts is one of Africa's topnotch arts festivals and an annual highlight for the arts community in Zimbabwe. For the third consecutive year, the festival invited South African theatre director Brett Bailey to direct HIFA's openingshow. He created “Dreamland”, working with a large group of local performers and blasting a strong, subtly explicit artistic statement on the current state of affairs.

Brett Bailey is known internationally with his company Third World Bunfight, in Belgium more specifically through his participation in KunstenFestivaldesArts 2005 with "House of Holy Afro" and "Big Dada". He was most recently commissioned by Nelson Mandela’s family to make a play about his life for his 90th birthday this July, to present in him home village in Transkei. AFRICALIA is now co-producing a South-African documentary film on this extraordinary theatre maker. In this article, he recounts his experiences.

HIFA also invited “Settlement” by Belgian dance theatre company SOIT, for which they requested Africalia’s support. It is a two week workshop programme with 15 local dancers and actors, culminating in 3 performances at the festival. Hans van den Broeck recounts briefly how sweet the collaboration emerged.

Brett Bailey, Artistic Director of Third World Bunfight, has written about his production Dreamland:

DREAMLAND

‘I dreamed that there was war. I raised my son in my arms to cover him and protect him from all these cockroaches. People being torn to death, dying and being shot at.’
“Twister”, 30 years old, poet

It’s 19h30, Tuesday 29 April 2008, four weeks since the Zimbabwean election results were due.

On an outdoor stage in Harare Gardens around 8000 people have gathered to attendDreamland, the opening event of the Harare International Festival of the Arts (HIFA).
80 musicians, singers and dancers wearing striped pyjamas are sprawled ‘asleep’ upon the stage. Then a giant king in a white leatherette military suit and wearing an outsize bulbous red mask drags a cello down the ramp. As he tunes his strings a storyteller recounts how once long ago, in a beautiful country far from here, this king stole the songs from his people and bewitched them into a deep sleep.
We watch as two Darth Vader helmeted ‘hyenas’ in military uniforms use the distinctive plastic ballot bins of the recent elections to club the songs out of a choir, and to silence another with a gift of a cardboard cut-out tractor. The crowd goes very silent, many already have tears in their eyes.
Then the king breaks into a booze-soaked rendition of ‘What a Wonderful World’.
‘Within three minutes of the beginning I told my friend “we are going to be beaten now”’, a spectator tells me afterwards, ‘we wondered which way to run.’

‘I dreamed that a girl drowned at the swimming competition. The coach said ‘forget about her’ and the swimming pool filled with blood.’
Priska, 13 years old, orphan

I’ve spent the past three weeks here putting Dreamland together. I wrote the beginning some time ago, and imagined that by the time I arrived in Zimbabwe I would know the ending: either the sleeping cast would awake and sweep the king away with the power of its voice, or the king would still be droning his monotonous dirge. But I walked into a narrative with no end in sight: the State of Limbo. The jubilation of just a few days earlier, when it looked like the MDC had cleaned up the elections, was over and a frustrated gloom defined the mood of Harareans. Within a short while this had settled into an angry depression.
There were the usual frustrations of bread cues, food shortages, escalating prices, and water and power cuts, but added to this was a sense of utter powerlessness, of having been cheated out of hope. I have spent the last two Aprils here making the opening shows for this festival, but never have things been so tough. The cell phone lines are constantly jammed: it can take up to an hour to get through, and several hours for an sms to arrive. Finding transport to rehearsals can be impossible. But more than this, people expend so much energy merely in holding their lives together that there is little surplus for anything else. Finding the enthusiasm to create a dynamic piece of musical theatre is difficult for those whose expectation of profound change has just been snuffed, who awake every morning from dreams of fear and anxiety.

‘There was a maze in the living room. Tanks and bombs and those vine things that when you touch them your hands start bleeding until you can see your bones on your hands.’
Nyaradzo, 10 years old, schoolboy

Suburban Harare feels like the still centre of a violent vortex. I lunch at a restaurant shaded by gracious old jacarandas. Journalists sit at quiet tables, their laptops tuned into Zimbabwe Online (ZOL). Stories are coming in of torture and beatings. Trucks full of hyped-up uniformed militia spiral out across dirt roads to thrash obedience into fed-up peasants. A Chinese tanker packed with weapons slowly circles 2000 kms to the south.
“For several weeks now Zimbabweans have had nothing to cling onto,” I tell the performers of Dreamland – school kids, dancers, poets, musos – “we have a platform in the city centre to raise our voices. We may not be able to change the situation, but we can give a voice to what people are feeling; we can give people some hope to take them through the next few days.”
HIFA, a miracle of an arts festival, like one of those desert flowers that appears briefly after rain, is nine years old. Headed by artistic director Manuel Bagorro and run by a passionate and courageous team of Zimbabweans, the festival somehow manages to bring together an extraordinary range of troupes and performers from across the world: opera singers from the UK, Mexican buffoons, dancers from Indonesia, the USA and Belgium, theatrical troupes from South Africa, Canada and Germany, pop stars from Spain, Uganda, Cote d’Ivoire… It’s one of the most exciting festivals in Africa and beats any South African festival for style and diversity.
Andrew Buckland, up with the TRC drama ‘Truth in Translation’, plays the King of Dreamland. The white suit he wears is fittingly the costume worn by Idi Amin in my play BIG DADA.
As the King hauls his cello offstage the narrator tells that in the barren time of this story there were some songs that the King could not reach: “these were the people’s most precious songs, the songs that they sang in their dreams”. The performers awaken and a series of local stars lead the choir and musicians in a number of big rousing anthems: Toni Childs’ ‘What you gonna do, Zimbabwe?’, the Cranberries’ anti-war song ‘Zombie’, and ‘Zimbabwe’ – the liberation song written by Bob Marley in 1980: “So soon we'll find out who are the real revolutionaries. And I don't want my people to be tricked by mercenaries. We gonna fight… fighting for our rights.”
Swiss funding agency Pro-Helvetia sponsored two South Africans to help me create Dreamland: choreographer Sbonakaliso Ndaba and drama therapist Paula Kingwell. Paula’s task was to collect the dreams of Zimbabweans. She held dream workshops with Aids orphans, evicted farmers, torture victims, members of the gay and lesbian society, and market vendors. Almost every dream in her harvest is drenched in anxiety and horror. Only an occasional glimpse of hope. Bytes of the dreams are projected onstage throughout Dreamland revealing the tortured inner landscape of the nation.

‘I had this animal and it had died. It was a prime beast. It had gone into a riverbed and died there. I used to sneak back and cut bits of biltong off it. It didn’t rot but it got progressively finished. Until there were just bones.’
Ben, 55 years old, evicted farmer

Five days before the show, after several rehearsals, I receive an sms from my narrator at 6.00 in the morning: “I’m pulling out of Dreamland. My family has strongly expressed fears that piece is not politically safe. I’m a soft target as a British employee and my wife with an independent newspaper. She was detained b4 and I’m diabetic.”
Photos of a man on BBC World, his back pocked with pink blotches: tortured with burning plastic for listening to the Voice of America. According to a doctor friend of mine, people are beaten so badly with metal bars that the tissue of their buttocks is destroyed. It has to be gouged away and replaced with grafts from their limbs.
On stage the singer of Lucky Dube’s hit ‘One People, Different Colours’ is murdered by the baton-wielding Hyenas, and to the opening strains of Michael Jackson’s ‘Thriller’ the King of Dreamland is prancing on the boards to deliver a disco version of “I never can say goodbye”. National Gallery curator Heeten Bhagat’s pop art video sequence of Operation Murambatsvina shows bulldozers ploughing into township houses in day-glo colours behind him.
Walls in Harare are still plastered with election posters four weeks after the event. Morgan and Simba beam at passers-by. Uncle Bob looks out over our right shoulder, his face sour, his fist raised: “Our land. Our sovereignty.” Whenever I’m introduced as a South African people sneer about “No Crisis Mbeki”: ‘Listen, if you’re going to hold me accountable for the idiosyncrasies of my president, I’ll hold you accountable for yours,” I retort. But I shudder with shame every time I watch his grizzled face emitting smug drivel on the various DSTV news channels that Harareans huddle around hopefully, despondently every night.
“In the dry valleys of Dreamland” intones my replacement storyteller, “the silent choirs sang their songs: The battered men in forgotten jails. The broken women on foreign soils. Families resting in unmarked graves. The hungry, the lost and the landless. And their songs rose like thunderclouds over the land.”
Ten children – ages 5-10 years – clutch their teddy bears and line up at front of stage to sing “Somewhere over the Rainbow”. The Hyenas appear behind them and smother them one by one with red bags till only one little girl remains singing: “If happy little bluebirds fly beyond the rainbow why, oh why can't I?”

‘I was pushing a wheelbarrow with a dead body in it. I was being followed by soldiers. I started to dig a hole. It was so deep I couldn’t see the bottom. The ground started to crumble into the hole. Suddenly a branch appeared. I grabbed it.’
Rutendo, 24 years old, insurance broker

German counter-tenor, Daniel Lager, sings Andrew Lloyd Webber’s haunting ‘Pie Jesu’ as the projection screen fills with a pair of blood-soaked hands juxtaposed with horrific footage from Rwanda and the DRC, made for my African adaptation of Verdi’s Macbeth.
And then the mood changes. Zimbabwean star Chiwonisa Maraire takes the stage with mbira keys whirling and the dancers of Tumbuka Dance Company flying around her: “My spirit cries out against the injustices committed upon my people… in this world we continue to seek answers from the lying leaders, and in this world we live for food and food alone.”
Thomas Mapfumo’s chimurenga song ‘Mhondoro’ follows this: a call for power to the ancestral spirits of Zimbabwe, while flames leap on screen. Protest slam poets Outspoken and Comrade Fatso entreat the audience to “rise Zimbabwe rise!”
But Zimbabweans are another kind of people to South Africans, and though they weep and raise their fists, they are slow to stand, even to dance. “We are too dignified to fight,” a storyteller tells me. Bev Wheeler, who initiated healing circles for torture victims, reckons Zimbabweans are cowed into quietness. “Hundreds of thousands have been tortured,” she says. “You only need to beat two or three families in a village, rape the women and abduct the men, and the village will be terrified.”

‘I dreamed a talking snake came from under my bed. He took me to the underworld of snakes and showed me the cruel things that humans are doing. He said the king of the snakes was dying.’
Lisa, 13 years old, orphan

The final number in Dreamland is John Lennon’s “Imagine”, lead by Chiwonisa surrounded by children with candles. A galaxy of candle flames and glowing cell phones is held aloft in the audience before fireworks light the sky, and the musicians, choir and dancers slump down into sleep again on stage, still under the narcotic spell of their tyrant king.
For the rest of the festival the audience is wide-eyed about the show. “It had to be said,” is the most common response. Festival director Manuel and I have human rights lawyers numbers on our cells, just in case. Goons from the CIO are always prowling around looking for a diversion.
By the weekend Harare feels like a changed city: thousands of Zimbabweans have been moved by beauty, music and theatre. They have risen up and danced to Freshly Ground, Oliver Mutukudzi and others. They have been reminded that beyond their bleakness more colourful realities do exist. The otherwise ubiquitous talk of ‘the situation’ has faded like a bad dream, if only for a few moments.

‘My house was being blown by fire and then there was nothing. I was crying “Oh! We are buried! We have nothing! Where will we stay?” Later I became a bird and I saw there was blue water all around.’
Deborah, 42 years old, torture survivor

Brett Bailey

SETTLEMENT

SOIT/Hans Van den Broeck
Harare - Zimbabwe - HIFA festival

Together with 15 local performers (dancers, actors, storytellers) from Harare, we worked 2 weeks on the project Settlement. Our goal was to make a finished performance, represented 3 consecutive nights at the HIFA-festival in Harare/Zimbabwe.
After reading BBC World Service website and googling like crazy prior to our departure, we had a lot of doubts on how we could create in a place where misery, poverty and political tensions are rising. How safe would it be?

Which audience would we perform for? The internet didn't really help us, it rather made us more confused and scared. A reassuring mail from the passionate director of the festival, Manuel Bagorro, convinced us of our personal safety, although we were to find out that the festival took a very daring and clear political stand, which actually made it the right context to work in. But most of all, the daily process of working with these very talented and extremely generous local performers made us realize why we were there!
We rehearsed under the shadows of the trees in Harare Gardens, trying to avoid the heat. Soon many young security people, who were temporarily employed and for whom it meant a welcome job, became our audience. They were laughing, reacting, moving with us, asking if they could join in. It created a great atmosphere and public stage, a social event that was new to us. The performers themselves were quick in spirit and reaction. We were positively surprised that our proposals were not at all strange to them; they couldn't wait to start the improvisation. Many times we found ourselves laughing heartily with the witty and sharp situations they came up with.
We also learned a lot of their well-developed improvisational skills as individuals and their alertness for the other, within a group. We felt this had to do with their strong cultural value of "sharing" with one another. Something the West has lost. As a result they were able to improvise for a long time, with many subtle variations, and we kept watching with pleasure, playfulness being a strong aspect of the improvisations.

Through the dancers the harsh reality outside seeped in : frequent road blocks, identity-controls in buses, buses set afire, people visiting relatives suffering from aids, inflation that made prices triple in a few days. One morning one of our performers, a well-known actor in Zimbabwe didn't show up, we found out he had to appear in front of the censorship commission for his participation in a controversial, political play. He resumed the improvisation in the afternoon, visibly shaken, but not able to talk about it. We were reminded that daily life is a struggle and has many hazards for everyone. The political talks we had were usually one on one. There was a fear of being heard, fear of the length of the Old Man's arm.

Our performances went very well, we shared the joy of making a common reality, a new settlement that existed for a few days in the heart of Harare, attracting a very mixed audience. We helped diversify the audience mix by filling the few remaining empty seats by welcoming young teenagers “through the venue’s backdoor” that were curious enough but didn't have the money to enter the festival-site.
The performances had a certain roughness, a choice but also a consequence of the short creation time. We worked on energetic, ritual scenes. It was interesting for us to see the difference of the outcome with the previous creation of "settlement" in Sydney, Australia. Although very different, the humor became a common factor and... what is more healing then a good dose of laughter?
Even if just an instant, it brought us all together, made us chase away the morose feelings of powerlessness and made us get in touch with the desire to survive, to talk back, to step up.

Video excerpts of the project can be seen on www.soit.info

"Settlement" was funded by Africalia and hosted by the HIFA-festival
Direction : Hans Van den Broeck

For further information about Africalia and a copy of the latest newsletter containng these and other articles

go to:http://www.africalia.be/?lang=3&page=home

News from MAPP International (who host The US Africa Consortium)

MAPP are excited to announce their new website highlighting what they and the amazing artists and community partners they work with are up to. Please visit http://www.mappinternational.org/ to learn about the dynamic new performing arts pieces, deep community engagement, and strong international work that defines MAPP International Productions. There you will find out about new performing arts projects in development, projects recently opened and available for presentation, news from the Africa Contemporary Arts Consortium and lots more.

African and Caribbean Music - tender process for two-year Arts Council England funding in 2009/10 (£428,079) and 2010/11 (£440,497).

Deadline: Tuesday 5 August 2008

Arts Council England, London is tendering a two-year fixed term contract to fund the provision of African and Caribbean music. This is not an invitation to apply for the funding. However if believe your organisation meets the criteria below do please contact me to discuss how you may apply. We will not accept applications from consortia but we will consider an application from a lead organisation which wishes to work in partnership with one or more partner organisations to deliver the programme.
Section A Criteria: We are seeking to offer the funding available to an organisation that has a strongest track record of successfully:
Building capacity in the sector, enabling artists, promoters and other organisations
Producing and co-producing tours of African and Caribbean artists of the highest calibre, including UK-based artists
Fundraising from trusts, charities and other public bodies
Producing an education programme of national significance
Providing effective professional development support to emerging artists
Advocating for these sectors
Managing an Annual Budget of at least £400,000 per year.
Building and maintaining a high quality web site and digital distribution
Capacity (the website should reflect best practice in terms of access for disabled people).

The purpose of the grant and the level of activity that is expected over the two years:
1. To produce a minimum of 18 tours of UK and international artists (tours should average a minimum of 10 completed dates). Average attendance per concert should be at least 300 paid admissions.
2. Fundraise £30,000 from Trusts, Charities and Foundations.
3. Develop an education programme which will reach at least 1000 young people in at least 3 Arts Council England regions.
4. Measurably (eg through increased UK and international performances, securing nominations for awards and media profile) progress the careers of at least 5 UK-based emerging artists or groups (groups will be counted as 1 unit) and provide appropriate structured mentoring support.
5. There are no measurements for Advocacy but it is expected that the successful organisation will be able to campaign across media including press, broadcasting and web and influence decision makers in government, education/training and the creative industries. It will also work with other organisations in the broad sector to raise awareness of African and Caribbean music and musicians
6. Build or develop a website which is attractive, informative, follows best practice in terms of accessibility, updated weekly and enables interactivity and ability to download music and short videos. The expected level of activity is at least 200,000 "hits" over the period .
Value of Grant
We have one grant of up to £868,576 amount available to award for a period of 2 years.
With inflation these are the funds available for the 2 years.
2009/10 £428,079
20010/11 £440,497

Contact Andrew McKenzie, Senior Music Officer if you have any queries or wish to discuss your organisation's eligibility to apply at Andrew.mckenzie@artscouncil.org.uk 0207 608 6196

All tenders need to be received (hard copy only) by 4.00pm, Tuesday 5 August 2008 to Andrew McKenzie, Music Unit, Arts Council England, London. 2 Pear Tree Court, London EC1R 0DS

The Theatre Managements Of South Africa (TMSA) Handbook

The TMSA have published a guidebook designed to assist and guide any member of TMSA in establishing a professional approach to producing live entertainment in Southern Africa.

It includes essential topics such as Marketing, Advertising, Feasibilities and Budgets.

It will guide you to free access to the networks of information, to various committees, boards and task groups that make up TMSA, and other groups related to the production of live entertainment in Southern Africa.

It will help you with contact names and numbers and other information not freely available.

The handbook is available free of charge to paid-up members in any category of membership and to non-members for R25-00 (plus VAT)

Should you wish to contribute information to the handbook and/or order your copy, please contact: The Secretary, TMSA (Theatre Managements Of South Africa), Dawn Lindberg,

P.O.Box 1828, Saxonwold, 2132 Tel: 011 880 7760 Fax: 011 880 0833 Email: info@tmsa.org.za

Mhayise Productions present:

Musa Hlatshwayo has been invited to create and present a new work (involving two of his trainees) of not more than 15 minutes as part of the 1st edition of Ukukhula Komdanso festival. This is said to be a youth contemporary dance development festival produced by the Center for Creative Arts and artistically directed by Lliane Loots in Durban. ‘UKhayini!’ is a dance theatre duet inspired by the different religious stories of Cain and Abel. It aims to introspect man’s relationship with the earth that is said to have opened to swallow the first shed blood and the first corpse. This work premiers on the 24h and 25th of June at the Elizabeth Sneddon Theatre in Durban. Times are to be confirmed. Duration of the work; +/- 15 minutes.

JULY; ‘Isililo SikaNandi’ premiers at the National Arts Festival.
An addition to Musa Hlatshwayo’s ground breaking repertoires inspired by ideas of personal and political praise, ambition, family relations, patriotism and African traditional leadership all framed within King Shaka and Queen Nandi’s questionable relationship. ‘Isililo SikaNandi’ premiers in Grahamstown as part of this year’s National Arts Festival’s Fringe Programme. Dates, times and venue to be confirmed. Proposed duration of the work +/- 35 minutes.

SAUTI ZA BUSARA MUSIC FESTIVAL

CALL FOR ARTISTS 2009

Siyaya (Zimbabwe)

Siyaya are one of Zimbabwe’s great music and dance treasures and have gained international recognition by their live performances and recordings. More often people have asked if Siyaya is a band, a dance group or theatre company. Siyaya is ALL the above. Siyaya is simply not to be missed! Siyaya return to Europe with 3 shows in 2008 & 2009

"Thatha" An ‘audience favourite’ in the last 2 years! Fresh from Africa, colourful, climactic and bursting at the seams with energy, the spectacular celebration of song, dance and life in Africa returns to Europe. As seen at Glastonbury, Edinburgh, WOMAD, Africa Calling & Live 8. Travelling around Africa, treading over borders, crushing language barriers, Siyaya takes you on a journey that uncovers the joys of life through traditional and contemporary African song and dance. This is bound to take you to another level ! “Siyaya willed a casual WOMAD audience into whooping ovations through sheer musicality and energy”
The Guardian

"OnkeOse" “Many Musics, Many Dances, One People” History meets today, social meets spiritual and political meets the ‘not so political’ to tell the story of Zimbabwe through song and dance. Stunning traditional & Township song & dance from the heart of the Townships in Bulawayo, celebrating the greatest African instrument - the human voice. Live on-stage the male & female singers, dancers, musicians and actors are exciting and uplifting. “As temperature -raisers they are nothing short of spectacular “The jubilant enthusiasm is infectious and, by the end, this crowd is cheering for an encore” Metro

"'Zwelethu" As seen at Edinburgh 2000! 'Zwelethu (Our Land) is clear in outline, and the action is gripping. It is a story based in the kingdom of KwaNdlala in the past times, tackling issues of concern today. Witchcraft, love & scandals play a big part as the people await a new era under the leadership of their Prince, Jahana. The king is dying, the nation is divided, the chiefs are planning to kill the Prince, Jahana goes mad, the only other person to rule the land is a woman, but can this land be ruled by a woman? (This show suitable for Theatres only) “A touch of Shakespear from the Savannah - a fusion of traditional and modern expressions with an all out vocal and physical vigour that approaches the thrilling. Their raw, collective energy keeps a melodramatic scenario percolating" êêêêê The Scotsman
NOW TAKING BOOKINGS for 2008 & 2009 !!

http://www.myspace.com/miriammakeba or http://www.siyaya-arts.com

"The Uncertainty of Hope" by Valerie Tagwira is the winner of The National Arts Merit Awards (NAMA), Zimbabwe 2008

Writer, Valerie Tagwira , says: "It’s a balanced picture of what Zimbabwe is like at the moment." The novel focuses on poverty, homelessness, domestic violence and issues related to HIV. Her characters are mainly women who face dilemmas such as turning to the black market to make a living; or professional women who are torn between struggling in their homeland or migrating.

Tagwira would like the book to raise awareness of issues related to women: domestic violence, childcare issues, sexual abuse. But she wonders, "Maybe I am too optimistic to think how much a book could do."

Tagwira recently came back from the Zimbabwe launch party for the book and says the responses have been extremely positive so far. On arriving in Harare, she says she was concerned for her safety. "I don’t get the feeling that we [Zimbabweans] are free to write anything". Writers in Zimbabwe, she says, have avoided depicting the current climate.

The Uncertainty of Hope by Valerie Tagwira was released on 29th March, 2007 on Weaver Press.

For 'Africa Beyond' interview with Valerie Tagwira http://www.bbc.co.uk/africabeyond/africanarts/18727.shtml

Grammy Awards 2008

Benin's Angelique Kidjo and South Africa's Soweto Gospel Choir picked up Grammy awards at this year's ceremony in Los Angeles.

The 50th annual Grammy Awards ceremony took place in Los Angeles on Monday, 11 February 2008.

Despite an enormous number of different categories there is no African music category but there are two - category 74 for Best Traditional World Music Album (vocal or instrumental) and category 75 for Best Contemporary World Music Album (vocal or instrumental) - where African artists are regularly amongst the winners and nominees.

The Best Traditional World Music Album was won by Soweto Gospel Choir for their album 'African Spirit'. This has caused some surprise in the African music scene, after all the 26-strong Soweto Gospel Choir took home this same award for their album 'Blessed' at the 2007 ceremony.

This year they beat competition by Konono Nº1 ('Live At Couleur Café'), Cheick Hamala Diabate & Bob Carlin ('From Mali To America'), Rahim Al Haj With Souhail Kaspar ('When The Soul Is Settled: Music Of Iraq') and a various artists project led by producer Gregory Barz ('Singing For Life: Songs Of Hope, Healing, And HIV/AIDS In Uganda').

The Best Contemporary World Music Album award went to Beninese superstar Angelique Kidjo for her latest album 'Djin Djin'. Kidjo who was present at the ceremony was naturally excited as she has finally won her first Grammy in the contemporary world music category (Kidjo was nominated in this category in 1999, 2003, 2005 and 2007, whilst in 1995 she was nominated in the Best Music Video category).

Other nominees in this category were Céu ('Céu), Gilberto Gil ('Gil Luminoso'), Bebel Gilberto ('Momento') and Loreena McKennitt ('An Ancient Muse').

ASAUK 2008

"The Presence of the Past? Africa in the 21st Century',
African Studies Association of the UK Biennial Conference

The Department of Education & Social Sciences, University of Central Lancashire, Preston, UK PR1 2HE announces:
'The Presence of the Past? Africa in the 21st Century', conference, which will take place at the University of Central Lancashire, Preston, 11-13 September 2008. The ASAUK Conference always seeks to facilitate discussions between Africanist scholars who ordinarily would have few opportunities to talk, despite working on similar themes, either because they are working on different geographical areas or within different academic disciplines.

The conference aims to bring together Africanists from all over the world and from various disciplines to discuss the past and current developments in Africa and African Studies. The conference organisers would particularly welcome postgraduate presentations on their current or recently completed research. Papers are invited on all themes relating to the continent, inclusive of time, period and space parameters as well as interdisciplinary perspectives.

Please address all enquiries to: -
Emma Kelly
Conference Officer
Conference and Events Management Office
University of Central Lancashire, Foster Room 10
Preston PR1 2HE, UK

Tel: +44 (0) 1772 892654
Fax: +44 (0) 1772 892977
Email: eakelly1@uclan.ac.uk

Africa Consortium receives funding from Arts Council England.

We were delighted to hear this week that the Consortium's funding application to ACE has been successful. With this funding we will be able to consolidate our current work, establish an equipped and resourced office base and to develop the services offered to members.

23.2.08

Artist to Artist International Scheme 2008

“I was very impressed with the Scheme which was such a refreshing experience compared to previous arts management experiences. There was a sense of trust and respect when we were given the funding, and it was clear that Visiting Arts had confidence and belief in artists”.

Rita Duffy, 2007 participant

Building on an initiative from Henry Moore Contemporary Projects in 2002, the Artist to Artist International Scheme provides an opportunity to bring together artists who are aware of each others’ practice and supports new dialogue across international borders.

Now in its fourth year, the scheme enables artists from the UK to invite artists from overseas for a week long visit. The format establishes a series of meetings between pairs of artists in order that they may have the opportunity to enter into a dialogue with one another and explore ideas on an open ended and informal basis, free from any obligation to produce a prescribed outcome.

We are pleased to announce the selected artists for this year's Scheme:
- Freee Art Collective (represented by Mel Jordon in Sheffield) and Tone Olaf Nielsen
(Denmark)
- Liz Lock & Mishka Henner (Manchester) and Anupa Mehta (India)
- Eduardo Padilha (London) and Marco Paulo Rolla (Brazil)
- Zineb Sedira (London) and Armina Menia (Algeria)

Participates will spend a week together in March 2008. A focus day on the 7 March at the Royal College of Art, London, will enable participants to further explore their individual practice and their shared experiences of the week.

For more information about the Scheme, please contact:
Adam Knights Arts Projects Co-ordinator
adam.knights@visitingarts.org.uk

Artist to Artist is supported by The Henry Moore Foundation, DCMS and British Council

Celtic Connections Make African Dreams Come True

Edinburgh based Senegalese singer Samba Sene’s dreams came true at Glasgow’s Celtic Connections festival last month. Musician Baaba Maal is a legend in his native Senegal (and approaching that status elsewhere as well). He has long been a hero to Samba Sene and was his mentor when he was just starting out as a young musician in Senegal. But it’s been over 10 years since they were last in contact and Sene was unsure if his messages to his hero had been received as Baaba Maal’s band is currently touring far and wide. He needn’t have worried. Returned to the bosom of his musical family he was invited to join the band onstage, joining in backing vocals and dancing in Maal’s exuberantly visual stage show of colourful African musicians and dancers. Samba and several of Baaba Maal’s band later entertained the late night crowds at the Celtic Connections Festival Club in an unscheduled performance following pleading from the audience, with Sene singing lead vocals for one of four numbers.

Samba Sene was born in Senegal but moved to Scotland seven years ago. He writes his own material and sings in French, English and his native Wolof. His style is strongly influenced by the jazzy grooves of Senegal and particularly by musicians like Baaba Maal (with whom he studied before leaving Senegal) and Salif Keita. He has a broad appeal, from world music fans to audiences who just want to dance to the beats. He is equally at home on a small stage with just his voice and guitar or with a dance floor and a big fat 8-piece band with percussion and horns.

He is also co-organiser of Ndaje: African Connections the popular monthly event at Edinburgh’s Bongo Club, set up to showcase African music and culture and its links with the rest of the world. At the end of February he will co-ordinate the Senegalese corner at the World Sufi Festival at Glasgow’s SECC.

Africa in Motion festival launches new short film competition for emerging African filmmakers

The Africa in Motion film festival (AiM), which takes place annually in October at Edinburgh Filmhouse, is officially inviting African filmmakers to submit short films for a new AiM competition. In order to target the competition specifically towards young and emerging African talent, filmmakers who enter a film for consideration must not have completed a feature-length film previously. Films entered must have been completed in 2005 or after, and must be no longer than 30 minutes.

The competition winner will be selected from a shortlist of films and will be announced at an awards ceremony at the third successive Africa in Motion festival in October 2008. The winner will have the opportunity for their film to be screened at AiM 2008 as well as the chance to win a significant cash prize. A selection of other short films specially commended by our competition jury will also be screened as part of a short film showcase at AiM 2008.

The AiM 2008 Short Film Competition will be judged by a jury panel consisting of local film specialists and established African filmmakers; still to be confirmed.

The deadline for competition submissions is 31 May 2008, and following from this a shortlist of films will be selected by an AiM viewing committee. The shortlist will be announced in July 2008. These films will then be viewed by all jury panel members, who will make a collective decision as to the prize-winners, based on a point scoring system that will take into account the relative merits of each of the shortlisted films.

Please see www.africa-in-motion.org.uk/call.html for full submission guidelines and to download an entry form.

Deadline for competition submissions: 31 May 2008

Creative Collaborations

Supported by Visiting Arts in partnership with the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS), the 2007 Creative Collaborations programme encourages collaborations between African artists and UK participants in education and the community. The following three projects have been selected for the scheme:

Taliesin Arts Centre and Junaid Jemal Sendi (Ethiopia)
Taliesin Arts Centre have invited Junaid Jemal Sendi, from Ethiopia’s Addis Ababa, to collaborate with both the County Youth Dance Company and young men’s company Dynion on a new choreography. Jenaid will be in residence for five weeks and a presentation of the work will take place at Taliesin Arts Centre in April and in the city centre during the Dance Days Festival. www.taliesinartscentre.co.uk

Professionals and young people from London/Liverpool and Takku Ligguey (Senegal)
The project Intercultural dialogues: The body in African dance is a collaboration between company Takku Ligguey from Senegal and dance professionals, young people and enthusiasts in Liverpool and London. Through explorative residencies, these collaborations will produce a showing of creative and traditional dance, post-show discussions and a seminar at which practitioners involved in dance, disability issues and intercultural practice will meet and discuss issues raised by the work of the company.

Funmi Adewole and Ukachi Akalawu are co-producers of the project. Ukachi is the director of Akaara Ltd, an arts consultancy company. For more information on the dance company visit: www.takku-ligguey.org and www.chm-khady-gueye.org

Africa’s Hip Hop connections

A creative collaboration in music and language between Hip Hop artists Daara J of Senegal, K’naan, Black Twang and Young Kof will take place in Liverpool this February. The collaborations will evolve alongside residencies with school children and young people in Merseyside. The work from the project will be presented at the 'Free Mike’ event at The Magnet in Liverpool. www.africaoye.com

For more details of the programme, please contact Sabrina Smith-Noble:
sabrina.smith-noble@visitingarts.org.uk

Dance! Africa, Dance!

The 7th "Dance! Africa Dance!" Biennale is to be held in Tunis, showcasing the best choreographic work on the continent.

Organized and presented by CULTURESFRANCE / Departement Afrique et Caraibes en creations, the African and Indian Ocean Choreographic Encounters event has for over 10 years focused on developing African choreographic expression and encouraging international exchanges between African and European choreographers.
The competition running during the 7th edition of Danse en Creations Encounters was launched in March 2005, in partnership with RFI. It is open to companies and - since 2008 - to soloist choreographers living and working on the African continent or in the Indian Ocean region (excluding Reunion). Works entered by companies are required to be 20-30 minutes long with a maximum of six performers on stage and solos (dancers and musicians) must be 10-20 minutes long.

For more details go to www.culturesfrance.com
or contact:
Syhem Belkodja
Ness El Fen
Artistic Director of Dance! Africa Dance! 08
nesselfen@gnet.tn
printemps.danse@gnet.tn

Opportunity for UK artists to invite overseas artists to visit them for a week in March 2008

Visiting Arts is pleased to announce the fourth edition of the Artist to Artist International Scheme, providing an opportunity for artists from the UK to invite artists from overseas to visit them for a week in March 2008.

The purpose of the scheme is to bring together artists who are aware of each others’ practice and to support new dialogues across international borders; it is not intended for artists who have worked together previously or are already collaborating.

The scheme is supported by Visiting Arts, Henry Moore Foundation, British Council and the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

For further information visit visitingarts.org.uk

21/11/07

Theatre and Slavery, Ghosts at the Crossroads

Published to mark the bi-centenary of the abolition of the British slave trade, Theatre and Slavery is the first in a series of books by Border Crossings which will explore the ways in which world theatre is responding to key issues in modern society and politics. These publications operate alongside the production work of Border Crossings to encourage inter-cultural dialogue and debate through and about the medium of performance.

Theatre and Slavery brings together critical and political essays by leading figures in the field with poetry, photography, and playscripts. The subject is covered in relation to theatre’s involvement in the campaign leading to the 1807 Act; responses to slavery in contemporary African and Caribbean theatre; and the ways in which theatre is engaging with the issue of slavery in the contemporary world.

Contributors include: Ama Ata Aidoo, Mojisola Adebayo, Awo Asiedu, Mohammed ben Abdallah, Rustom Bharucha, Shika Ghildyal, James Gibbs, Lynette Goddard, Carole Jones, Roshni Mooneeram, Peter Sellars, Julia Swindells, John Thieme, Dev Virahsawmy and Del LaGrace Volcano. There is a Foreword by Aidan McQuade (Director - Anti-Slavery International), and the book is edited by Border Crossings’ Artistic Director, Michael Walling.

For more information and to buy the book visit the Border Crossings website

19/11/07

Musa Mboob & XamXam

Gambian musician Musa Mboob is very used to musical collaboration. He currently plays in four very different bands which encompass jazz, English folk and African percussion. Based in Peacehaven in East Sussex, Musa is at present embarked on an exciting new musical project, XamXam, which takes seven accomplished musicians from very different musical backgrounds and produces music with clear African roots, but which also draws upon a rich range of musical traditions and styles.

To read the full article visit the Africa Beyond website

15/11/07

Primary Coloured, a fictional story by Brent Meersman

Fictional character Joel Moritz, a theatre producer turned campaign manager for the notional Social Democrats, explains to a New York broker that he has turned to politics because it is not all that different from theatre.

Primary Coloured is Brent Meersman's first political satirical novel, and possibly a first for South Africa. Meersman, a journalist and theatre critic, bears a cunning resemblance to Moritz.

read an article about the book on the Business Report.

06/11/07

N'Faly Kouyate, an interview by Reuters

Oct 13 - Reuters television speaks to N'Faly Kouyate, a Guinean who is famous for mastering the traditional west African Kora.

N'Faly Kouyate is a Guinean who plays in a band that has found a way of mixing west African music with Celtic sounds from Ireland.

Reuters television spent time with the musician at the WOMAD festival in the United Kingdom and at his home in Belgium.

Listen to the full interview on the Reuters website

29/10/07

Cloth Girl written by Marilyn Heward Mills

Shortlisted for the Costa First Novel award, this is a delight. Set on Africa’s Gold Coast in the 1940s during the ten years leading up to Independence, it centres on two very different women, one black, one white, and their different views, particularly about what Africa means to each. It’s warm, passionate, eventful stuff, full of the politics of the period, the cruelty of Africa, the ignorance of the colonials and the exhilaration of a fascinating period. A lovely, lovely read.

For more information visit the Meet the Author website

23/10/07

COMMUNITIES TO BENEFIT FROM ALL-NEW CAPE TOWN INTERNATIONAL PERFORMING ARTS FESTIVAL

Speaking out in support of the quality of the event as much as its job creation potential, Cape Town communities have spoken out in strong support of what amounts to an all-new Cape Town International Performing Arts Festival (CTIPAF). The event is currently undergoing a radical transformation that aims to place it among the world’s great community-based community-driven events.

Formerly a component of the Cape Town Festival, the CTIPAF now shifts from its previous annual March slot to a 27 June – 12 July 2008 showcasing, billed as “Gateway to African Arts & Culture” and bringing together the best of Cape Town’s dance, theatre and musical talents. Former Cape Town Festival Chief Executive Officer Yusuf Ganief (who used to head up the Sponsorships portfolio for the advertising industry’s Loerie Awards), has taken over management of the CTIPAF, now in his capacity as CTIPAF Executive Director. The CTIPAF is now a stand alone entity and running under the management of the Spirit of Africa Arts Foundation, a section 21 Company.

Ganief looks forward to a “new and improved version” CTIPAF which sees the event hosted in communities by communities as opposed to previously taking place primarily within Cape Town’s central business district.

Ganief notes the event’s vision for becoming “Gateway to Africa’s Arts & Culture”.
Reviewing the comments, Ganief notes that events such as the CTIPAF clearly play a significant role in the context of destination planning, enhancing and linking tourism and commerce.

“The CTIPAF team continually strives to push the boundaries of organizational excellence, and 2008 will see a more efficient and streamlined CTIPAF than ever before,” he notes.

CTIPAF Executive Director Yusuf Ganief can be contacted through e-mail at yusuf@spiritofafrica.org.za

Artists who would like to participate should send their applications and proposals to arts@spiritofafrica.org.za

20/10/07

CALL FOR WORK: the 2008 Langston Hughes African American Film

The 2008 Langston Hughes African American Film Festival, an annual presentation of the Langston Hughes Performing Arts Center in Seattle, Washington, invites independent film entries.
As we celebrate our 5th anniversary,we look forward to screening new work by emerging and established filmmakers. Genres/subject areas: narrative, documentary, children’s, youth-made movies, shorts, LGBT, animation, experimental. Filmmakers do not have to be Black, but films should include a significant amount of content involving people of African descent. Films are reviewed by a jury process.

For more information visit the Festival website

20/10/07