“Drama For Life”: Looking at theatre for social change, Maputo 2015

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“Drama For Life”: Looking at theatre for social change, Maputo 2015

8:30 CAT | 04 Dec 2015

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Jornal Notícias

Physical boundaries do not align with the distribution of ethnic groups in the Southern Africa region, and violence and xenophobia undermine the ties between the countries. But the “Drama for Life” forum, now in its eighth year, chose Mozambique for its dialogue on the role that performance can play in defending human rights and social justice.

Drama for Life, an initiative coming initially out of South Africa, is one of the main platforms for applied theatre, drama therapy, art education, performing arts studies, performing ethnography, research and practices in Africa.

In 2015, the conference offered an innovative partnership between the Eduardo Mondlane University and the University of Witwatersrand, South Africa, in facilitating dialogue that goes beyond national borders. One of the objectives that the conference aims to achieve is the inclusion of all current trends and movements in the arts communities in Africa and the world.

The drama of migration

The impact of migration, whether on the continent or internationally, was one of the themes of the conference. Migration is an integral part of the history of Africa, and the search for better living conditions is one its primary causes. The first debate highlighting the theme looked how migration, culture and public health intersect through the lens of applied theatre, drama therapy, art education and performance.

In various debates, Drama For Life sought to open a dialogue between professionals, artists, politicians and academics, questioning the role of drama, theatre and the applied arts in the lives of vulnerable people around the world.

Through art, the conference looked at the role of the performing arts as social therapy, minimizing the trauma of migration. Participation and integration between cultures were also brought to the debate as the mechanisms for bolstering a feeling of belonging.

Beyond words, bodies speak several languages, with sensitised eyes able to read these gestures. In one event, a group of eight ECA (School Of Communications and Arts of UEM University) students – Alice Chambule, Assane Cassimo, Eduardo Correia, Fatima Macaringue, Mauricio Rico, Paulo Matope, Sabina Tembe and Salvado Mabjaia – put words to one side and expressed their emotions and thoughts with their bodies in a piece referencing social and family issues like orphans, poverty and hunger.

Those attending the conference welcomed the initiative. “It was a good initiative. We learned from beginning to end. Those who did not attend lost a lot,” attendants reported. The performances were mostly in English. “Language is not a problem, but a challenge,” Mozambique playwright Maria Atalia said, adding: “I am happy and have a feeling of accomplishment. Before the question was: What will it be liked? Now that it’s over, we have to take stock, a kind of internal reporting to detect what went wrong and why.”

She regretted the low public turnout, however. “On the Mozambican side, there was difficulty with the submission of scientific papers to be presented at the conference. As a result, deliveries were delayed and many speakers were unable to attend. Public registration was not high, but we had a significant number of participants.”

One of the conference speakers, Mozambican researcher Orlando Alberto Govo, pointed to publicity as one of the reasons for the empty seats in lecture rooms. “Communication is one of the components we need to explore. This was our first experience, and we promise to improve next time round.”

The location of the next conference still unknown. “It will probably be in South Africa or another country in the region. But why not go back to Mozambique?,” Orlando said.

The conference was the result of a partnership between the DST-NRF Centre of Excellence in Human Development, ICMA / Goethe Zentrum Maputo (Instituto Cultural Mozambique Germany), the School of Communication and Arts of the Eduardo Mondlane University, Wits School of Arts, BASA, and the University of Witwatersrand.

Source: Jornal Notícias