A few words about your artistic career
In 2011, I set up the Art-d'Art collective with Michael Disanka. It's a space for exchange and creation, where I produce a number of projects presented in the two Congo's, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Belgium and France. Since 2013, I've been presenting the "seule en scène". A woman's wordco-written with two co-authors.
How long have you been an artist?
Over the last 10 years, I have opted for a theatre of research centred on my experience, drawing on the library of my life.
Why did you apply for this scholarship? How will the scholarship support you?
We have a duty to counter the fear of no longer being able to work, of not being able to contribute to the reconstruction of tomorrow's society because we haven't managed to raise the necessary funds for this or that project which nevertheless seems essential to us today.
What are your concrete artistic objectives after this residency?
To help more people in the commune of Ngaliema where I live to discover and discuss contemporary theatre.
What did you achieve during this creative residency? What is the result (work created)? Who was involved in the creative process?
"Arrêt sur théâtre" consisted of two theatrical performances, each lasting around 20 minutes, at two bus stops in the commune of Ngaliema in Kinshasa. Two actresses, an actor and three musicians took part in the creative process. After 3 days spent at each bus stop, two videos filmed at the two locations were posted on youtube.
How do you think these activities help us to think about the world today, in relation to the COVID-19 crisis, and/or about building for the future?
Now, more than ever, people need theatre. In these difficult times, when everything is starting to pick up little by little, theatre is at a level where it is more than necessary to fight for it to exist here in the DRC. Otherwise, today's Congolese society will no longer have a place where people can sit quietly and reflect on their future, their existence. This is what "arrêt sur théâtre" is all about. Not only is it about the future of theatre, but also about what needs to be said now, after all that has just happened, to prepare for the future.
How did you feel during the residency? And afterwards?
I'm satisfied with the result of my work. Admittedly, we encountered some difficulties... Playing on a bus stop in Kinshasa is not an easy thing to do, especially when people don't know about it in advance. The overcrowding at bus stops, the non-stop traffic jams, the people jostling to get into taxis, all this was difficult for us to manage, but since it didn't surprise us, we played with it and it worked.
I think the reason we were able to pull it off without incident, given the buzz it generated all around, is because people proved that they need theatre in their lives. We knew it and they knew it too. That's where we met. This meeting was just what we needed during the shock of Covid to perhaps heal something in us shattered by this virus.
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Theatre stop
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