Conference on African and Afro-Caribbean Performance
University of California, Berkeley Sept 26-28, 2008
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Featured speakers include: Gerard Aching, New York University Author of Masking and Power: Carnival and Popular Culture in the Caribbean Pauline Malefane, South Africa's Isango Portobello Productions Star and translator of the film u-Carmen eKhayelitsha Ngugi wa Thiong’o, International Center for Writing and Translation, UC Irvine One of Africa’s most acclaimed playwrights and novelists Tejumola Olaniyan, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Author of Scars of Conquest/Masks of Resistance: The Invention of Cultural Identities in African, African-American, and Caribbean Drama |
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As studies of African and Afro-Caribbean performance have acquired a wider relevance during the last decade, it is now time to examine the diverse critical approaches currently being practiced within these fields. How are African and Afro-Caribbean cultures being constructed, analyzed, and re-imagined by recent discussions about theatricality, transnationalism, diaspora, translation, Circum-Atlantic exchanges, or cyberspaces? The conference’s program will bring to a diverse array of presenters from Africa, the Caribbean, Europe and the United States who deal with topics that include--among others--dance, drama, community theater, the links between social justice and performance, rituals, religious events, diasporas, carnival, and intercultural barterings.
This conference will also gather several organizations with overlapping interests: two UC-wide Multi-campus Research Groups including one in International Performance and another focused on African Studies; a special session hosted by the African Theater and Performance Working Group of the International Federation for Theater Research (IFTR); the American Society for Theatre Research (ASTR), which is a co-sponsor having provided support for Africa-based scholars to attend; and scholars located throughout the U.S, Europe and Africa who will be attending and giving presentations. In addition, the conference will serve a focal point for organizing a renewed interest in humanities and arts-based research on the UC Berkeley Campus, with links in particular to the Departments of Music, African-American Studies, History, Theatre, Dance and Performance Studies, and the School of Information. In association with his conference, the journal Theatre Survey will be publishing a special issue on African and Afro-Caribbean performance. |
Conference Planning Committee Leo Cabranes-Grant, UCSB, Co-Convener Catherine M. Cole, UC Berkeley, Co-Convener Moradewun A. Adejunmobi, UC Davis Frank Wilderson, UC Irvine
Campus Advisory Committee Catherine Cole, Chair; Theater, Dance and Performance Studies (TDPS) Kwame Braun, Film Studies Jenna Burrell, School of Information James Davies, Music Abena Dove Osseo-Asare, History Kathy Geritz, Pacific Film Archive Jocelyn Guilbault, Music Percy Hintzen, African American Studies C. K. Ladzekpo, Music Martha Saveedra, Center for African Studies Michael Watts, Center for African Studies Brandi Wilkins-Catanese, African-American Studies and TDPS
Campus Coordinating Committee Jasmine Johnson, African American Studies Ariel Osterweis Scott, TDPS April Sizemore-Barber, TDPS Scott Wallin, TDPS
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Click images for more information on featured speakers |
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| Ngugi wa Thiong'o, International Center for Writing and Translation, UC Irvine |
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| Tejumola Olaniyan, Louise Durham Mead Professor, English, UW-Madison |
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| Isango Portobello Productions |
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| Gerard Aching, Assoc. Prof. Spanish, New York University, Author of "Masking and Power" |
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Funding and Co-sponsorship Presented by UC Berkeley’s Dept. of Theater, Dance, and Performance Studies
With generous co-sponsorship from: • The American Society for Theatre Research (ASTR) has provided funding to help defray travel costs for scholars coming to the conference from Africa. • UC Berkeley’s Consortium for the Arts is sponsoring a 10-day campus residency by South African opera singer Pauline Malefane from Isango Portobello Productions. In addition to her participation in the conference and screening, Malefane will be visiting various classes at Berkeley the week after the conference. • The University of California Institute for Research in the Arts (UCIRA) is co-sponsoring Pauline Malefane’s visit at Berkeley and also at UC Irvine where she will be hosted by Ngugi wa Thiong’o’s Center for Writing and Translation
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• The Pacific Film Archive is sponsoring the screening of U-Carmen • Additional conference programming support is provided by the UC-wide International Performance Multi-campus Research Group and African Studies Multi-Campus Research Group • Additional campus support includes UC Berkeley’s Center for African Studies and Department of Music • External affiliates also include the African Theatre and Performance Working Group of the International Federation for Theatre Research and the journal Theatre Survey. |
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