Where are we with the theater in DRC?

This March 26th, 2015, the center of artistic creation and cultural exchange, Yole!Africa, together with the Provincial Culture and Arts Division of North Kivu and other partners celebrate World Theater Day through a panel discussion. The theme of the conference is:

«The Theater: Diagnosis and Perspectives»

Thus, Yole!Africa and its partners wish to use this commemoration to create uncompromising places on the stage in DR Congo, and especially to develop a plan to revitalize the theater culture in Goma and strengthen the collaboration existing between different provinces of the DRC, including Kinshasa, Kisangani, Bukavu and Goma. For several decades, the National Theater Federation (FENATH), North Kivu section, has been lethargic and no longer allows the development of personalities, individuals and theater structures.

Yole!Africa is the first center of artistic expression and cultural exchange based in the Eastern DR Congo, in Goma in North Kivu. It is by necessity Yole!Africa was created to provide an alternative education outside the formal system available to our youth. All programs and activities developed by Yole!Africa ( http://www.yoleafrica.org ) are based on an approach that emphasizes the responsibility of youth in the collective construction of society. These programs aim to provide young people with non-violent expression tools that promote peace, dialogue and development in the Great Lakes region.

Irina Bokova, Director-General of UNESCO on the occasion of 50th anniversary of World Theater Day: <<The theater has the power to move, inspire, transform and educate in the ways other art forms cannot. The theater reflects both the extraordinary diversity of cultures and our shared human condition in all its weaknesses (vulnerabilities) and its forces.>>

Indeed, every year since 1962, World Theater Day is celebrated by the international theater community on March 27th . Theater encourages exchanges and gathers advocates. World Theater Day is the celebration of that will. This is an opportunity for artists from the theatrical stage to share with their audience their vision of art and how this art can contribute to understanding and peace among peoples living in the region. This is in the perspective of Goma in general, but also in the particular context of our entire country.

We seek to revitalize the theater and put it back on the podium it held over two decades ago in the city of Goma using collaboration between different provinces of the DRC. The center of artistic creation and cultural exchange Yole!Africa will collaborate with the group of actors from the first generation of theater in Goma, Kinshasa, Kisangani, and Bukavu. This revitalization is possible if everyone contributes.

This panel discussion will bring together 50 participants to give one voice to all who are devoted to theater and government officials so as to diagnose their art and discuss ways to improve the image of this art which once was the pride of the tourist capital of DRC.

Additionally, this day should get us moving again to the goal of the International Theater Institute, ITI, which particularly serves the art scene by:

– Encouraging exchanges (international) in the field of knowledge, and in the practice of drama and music

– Stimulating cooperation between those involved in the arts – Supporting awareness to artistic creation and its usefulness in the field of development – Deepening mutual understanding and contributing to the consolidation of peace and

friendship between people – Defending the ideals of UNESCO – Combatting any form of racism and social or political discrimination

March 26th will prove to constitute a new starting point for the arts through the viewpoints of all stakeholders in the revitalization of the theater in Goma, but more broadly, linking that narrative to eastern Congo with hopes of reaching across the entire country.

Yole!Africa Ganza Burko Coordinator

Yole Africa, sise Av.Pelican 08, Quartier les Volcans,Goma/RDC,

Contact :TEL : +243997123055, E-mail :contact@yoleafrica.org http://www.yoleafrica.org, http://www.alkebu.org