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Mandala Theatre Nepal are working with MAP in Nepal to inform arts-based communications between young people and policymakers. These activities will include the development of child-friendly policy briefs informed by theatre performances. Mandala will also work with MAP Nepal to engage girls and women in identifying key challenges and barriers to their participation in Nepal’s civic and political life.
Mandala Theatre Nepal as an inclusive and open space that encourages and fosters dialogue, exchange and the celebration and strengthening of Nepal’s cultural diversity. Mandala offers a platform especially to young theatre artists and activists to explore and collaborate for innovative performances and art. Mandela is committed to developing and practicing a creative style that is strongly based on Nepali theatre and culture, as well as deeply rooted in the organisation’s desire to be a strong, yet, aesthetical, voice for social justice, political awareness and human rights.
RCC is led by Eric Kabera. Rwanda Cinema Centre aims to develop and improve access to film and new media in Rwanda. The Rwanda Cinema Centre will integrate their curriculum into MAP activities to build capacity and to support digital innovation and further dissemination of MAP related projects.
Based in Butare, Huye Province, Rwanda, the Woman Cultural Centre (WCC) is an organisation that furthers the causes of women through cultural means. The WCC is home ot Ingoma Nshya, the women drummers of Rwanda and to other cultural intiatives. MAP is partnering with the Woman Cultural Centre to explore the use of drumming to address gender inequalities; as the ingoma (drum) has been traditionally used solely by men
RUSTOM BHARUCHA is a writer, director and dramaturg based in Kolkata, India. He is a Corresponding Fellow of the British Academy and a retired Professor of Theatre and Performance Studies which he taught at Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, India, between 2012-2018. Trained as a dramaturg at the Yale School of Drama, he has published a number of books including Theatre and the World (1993), The Politics of Cultural Practice (2000), Rajasthan: An Oral History (2003), and Terror and Performance (2014). The last publication was researched while he was a Fellow at the International Research Center/Interweaving Performance Cultures in Berlin, Germany, between 2010-2012. More recently, he has published Performing the Ramayana Tradition: Enactments, Interpretations, and Arguments (2021), co-edited with Paula Richman, and The Second Wave: Reflections on the Pandemic through Photography, Performance and Public Culture (2022).
Banyurwa Pascal has been the coordinator of arts in Nyabihu District since 2019. His responsibilities included coordinating all arts related activities in the District, promoting talents and mobilize youth and other people to wake up their talents. He has been a master dancer for Abambari cultural troop for 15 years. Pascal has also worked as translator for Family NGO at AEBR for two years.
In addition to that, he served as pastor and businessman and has gained a lot of experience in motivating youth since he was specifically in charge of youth in church service.
Pascal earned his diploma in Business Administration and Biblical related matters. He is a talented football player who did not have chance to continue his career but is still helping the youth from his village to develop their football skills and talents.
Inshuti Mukiza Marie Gladys is a Rwandan traditional dancer and coach; she has been actively participating in Rwandan Traditional dance industry since 2008 as a dancer and dance coach. She has been a dance coach for INYAMIBWA Cultural troop from University of Rwanda, in the same context she was a traditional dance coach for cultural troupes in different secondary schools. During her career of Coaching and Dance, she performed in international cultural festivals in Rwanda, Burundi, Kenya and France. Gladys is also a traditional coach of AMARIZA Cultural Troup from Nyamagabe district, which lead her to become the Secretary of Arts coordination committee in Nyamagabe District.
Beyond the above experience, Gladys is a bachelor holder in Biotechnology with a postgraduate degree in education and she has been a teacher of Biology and Cultural advisor since 2014. She has now 10 years experience in working with young people trough being a teacher and a traditional dance coach for different troupes either in schools, university and in non academic communities.
Thamar graduated with a bachelor’s degree in Science (Botany and Conservation) in 2014 and with a postgraduate diploma in Education in 2019 at University of Rwanda. She is also ending her Master degree in Public Health at Mount Kenya University/Kigali Campus.
Thamar started working at GGAST in May 2015 as a Welfare coordinator and traditional dance coach. In this role, Thamar was responsible for the wellbeing of 275 girls in this high school. She also dealt with their discipline and participated in developing their confidence. At the beginning of 2019, she got assigned to other duties such as looking after all things related to sanitation and environment safeness by leading all departments which maintain it. She is so passioned about culture, arts and dance. She is a traditional dance instructor and a mentor to arts & jewelry club. Before joining GGAST, Thamar has worked as a traditional dance coach in high school called ET st KIZITO SAVE since 2012 up to 2014 and worked as a parasurveyor in National Land Centerin 2010. Since 2011, she has been a committed member of INYAMIBWA traditional dance troupe which is one of top 3 best national traditional dance group from which she toured Europe (France, Spain and Belgium) recently with Festivals du Sud. A part from that, Thamar believes in Arts and Culture capacity/power of bringing change to the society which motivated her to recently introduce to her community an arts and culture club called Ijabo Performing Arts aiming at promote peace, fight against family violence, promote unity, resilience and promote social inclusion by mostly including disabled people while conserving and protecting our culture through youth, whom she believes to be the pillar for the country development in future. In addition to that, Thamar is now part of the executive committee as Deputy President of an new African Federation of Arts and Culture which is on its early stage and aiming to bring together all African artists from all African Countries in order to share knowledge, skills and experiences at the same time combine their efforts from their diverse expertise and culture for abetter and effective way of bringing positive changes and developmentto African Communitiesas well as Worldwidely.
Munezero Ferdinand was born in 1984. He is a passionate and Talented Traditional Artist and he has been participating actively in Rwanda Cultural Creative Industry (CCI) since 2004 as an artist in traditional dance, music, poetry and cultural media. He is now the Chair person of Rwanda Arts Council. He has 15 years of experience in youth empowerment, Mentorship and Arts Coaching; he has 5 years of professional experience in Secondary education as a teacher and career advisor. Ferdinand’s journey in Arts Together with professional facts knows and believes that the success in talents discovery within young people will create a successful generation in social and economic transformation. This was motivation for him to be confident and become the CEO and the founder of Voice of Generation Rwanda (VOG-Rwanda), a social enterprise for talent detection and career guidance for youth in secondary schools, working specifically with schools in remote areas, aiming at discovering the golden talents in young people and empower them to become agents for social and economic transformation by using their talents. Apart from arts experience, Munezero Ferdinand is an Engineer in Electronics and telecommunication with 5 years of experience in renewable energy and environment protection as a training and Communication Expert.
Honored Worker of Culture the Kyrgys Republic
Artistic Director of Kyrgyz Republic
Puppet Theatre
named Musa Zhangaziev and
Director the nomadic theatre Sakhna
I graduated from Russian Academy of Theatrical Art (ГИТИС) in 1992 in Moscow I have staged over forty performances in various theatres of Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan, and large number of government events. I put opera, drama and experimental performances in Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan countries.
In 2003 he organized a public foundation for culture “SAKHNA” – art nomadic theater. This theatre participated in various festivals in the USA (city of New York), Poland (city of Wroclaw), Russia (Moscow), Kazakhstan (cities of Astana, Almaty, Taraz), Uzbekistan (Tashkent).
The main detail of the theatre “SAHNA” is the display of performances in remote regions of the country and the popularization of small epos of Kyrgyzstan.
Experimental nomadic theatre “Sakhna”, as a basis takes small Kyrgyz eposes, and demonstrates a new direction in theatrical art: combination of archaic and modern forms, ritual – nomadic theatre with meditative ways of expression, when the actors go to trans completely immersing into the process of game
Jean Baptiste Rukundo was born in Kicukiro, Kigali, in 1990 as the seventh out of eight children. For as long as he can remember, he has had an intuition that has been present from childhood that made him believe he was talented even before becoming an artist. After graduating from high school in 2011, the journey towards becoming an artist started.
Rukundo joined ivuka art centre in 2011 and proceeded to paint since he already knew how to draw in high school from which he also learnt wood carving and ceramics. Painting to him was a way of experimenting with new medium and since an environment also dictates an artist’s medium he had to adopt to the traditional art representation.
Rukundos soon developed an expressionistic style of painting and it is this style of painting that has been evolving through his artistic walk. His strokes seem to suggest a lot from desire to torment to fun but all in all he delivers his message in a simple but expressive way. In his paintings He explores colour as an attaraction rather than attaching a meaning and this makes his message delivery be the primary reason of expression.
He draws his inspiration from his immediate surrounding environment, not only of the Rwandese diverse nature, but also of “impressive” situations in people’s daily life. He has done many two major solos “Mkorogo” in Kigali that touched on the human condition to change his appearance using bleaching gels and chemicals and “Mobility of Expression” exhibited at the Godown Art Centre that talked on human as vulnerable creatures of habit.
At the moment, Rukundo has adopted new mediums like ink, collage and charcoal to better understand the process of painting and how to combine them for a powerful visual storytelling.
Artist’s Statement
In this time and age there seems to be immense hope in religious organizations but little hope in humanity. The sheep (the people) are led by the sheperd (the saviour) but the sheperd preys on the sheep and what follows is a question of morality towards the sheperd.
I explore these saviour figures using a religious connotation because it is they that carry the most sheep to their slaughter. The works are a depiction of my thoughts on how the human person is searching for hope but end up in the hands of wolfs.
A self-described professional dreamer and a woman of many firsts, Katese is a Rwandan playwright, director and cultural entrepreneur. Among her many accomplishments in Rwanda are the first women’s drumming company (Ingoma Nshya, Women’s Initiatives), the first professional contemporary dance company (Amizero Dance Kompagnie), the first international festival (Festival Arts Azimuts), the first national festival in Rwanda (Rwanda Drum Festival), the first co-op ice cream store (Inzozi Nziza – Sweet Dreams) and the first recipient of the League of Professional Theatre Woman’s Rosamond Gilder/Martha Coigney International Award. Currently, she is the director of the Woman Cultural Centre (WCC). Since 2009, Odile is working on “The Book of Life”, an alternative memory of the Rwandan genocide that offers hope and an inspiring example of how to turn darkness into light.
She has recently launched “I Have A Drum”, a long-term program that aims to break the precarious conditions in which the female drummers work in and to build a permanent ecosystem conducive to the rise of a successful drumming industry Made of Rwanda.
I am Alexander Iteriteka Burundian refuge living Rwanda, I am Musician singer of Traditional Musical Instruments and modern since2010, I am Umuduri Band Leader, we write and sing peace, reconciliation, prevent Crime against humanity songs. We train the children and youth to use traditional musical instruments, traditional dances from Burundi and Rwanda. We organise different events such as World day of African Child, International Peace day to promote children`s and youth talents.
Nub Raj Bhandari has focused on issues related to girls and women rights, education, conflict transformation and social accountability for the past nine years. He has a MA in English (2009) and Masters of Philosophy in Education (2017) from Tribhuvan University, Nepal. He is
presently a Program Director at Janaki Women Awareness Society and also a researcher for child marriage and education related projects. He also provided mentoring to Principal Social Accountability Practitioners for Program for Accountability in Nepal at Centre for International Studies and Cooperation (June – November, 2016). His research focus and commitment is policy focused and seeks to transform society by promoting quality education, gender equality and peace building.
Deus Kwizera is a videographer who works with Kwetu Film Institute. Deus has a passion for making documentaries, and has recently directed the Mobile Arts for Peace Rwanda documentary.
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