Profound and thought-provoking words about artistic expression, women’s rights and personal struggle glided from the mouths of five African women writers at the “Celebrating African Women Writers” panel at Columbia’s Film Row Cinema April 13.
With poetry, storytelling and performance in common, all five women use the arts to convey passionate messages from their personal experiences and what they’ve seen around them, in their countries and in the world.
Each panelist described how they share responsibility in delivering these messages to a worldwide audience in hopes of changing things for the better. Through art, they said, they are able to express their pain.
Hope Azeda, the founder, artistic director and choreographer of Mashirika Creative and Performing Arts – one of the major theater companies in Rwanda – said her primary audience is youth. Her artistic work is part of her deep love for her country and her goal of unmasking the hidden truths of Rwanda, including the effects of mass genocide.
Mshai Mwangola spoke of the importance of storytelling through oral literature — literature that is not written but rather conveyed through spoken or body language and facial gestures. It is vital to pass down these stories before they are forgotten, Mwangola said. Performing not only her own work, but also the works of other African women, makes the world more aware of their shared struggles.
Chantal Snyman, a writer, director, theater-maker, storyteller, actor and trainer, says she mainly writes for herself, but she feels that many women from Africa and around the world share her stories, so in writing for herself she also writes for others. She said she bases much of her work on HIV/AIDS awareness and how to prevent its rapid spread in South Africa.
Malika Lueen Ndlovu, a poet, playwright, performer, arts project manager and mother of three sons, explained the hardships of having a stillborn daughter and the self-doubt and depression the experience provoked. Her eldest son still keeps her stillborn daughter’s memory alive in visual pictures and story telling, she said.
Ndlovu said that after her performances, women often approach her with stories of their own struggles with miscarriage.
Amandina Lihamba, the self-proclaimed “last born” in her large family, is a writer, performer and professor in theatre arts. With more than three decades in the performing arts, Lihamba provided much wisdom on the arts in general.
With deep and profound stories, these women shed light on many topics and provided much information that the audience was eager to receive.
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