You are welcome to Mashirika, we are confident that through this you will get a clear insight on what Mashirika does.

Director’s foreword
On behalf of all members of Mashirika, I would like to thank all our patterns for their support which has truly been a strong foundation of Mashirika,s existence.
Rwanda,s unfortunate scar of the 1994 genocide,  left it on it’s knees, in all it takes with regards to political, economic and social aspects, so starting theatre in Rwanda in 1998 looked like a big joke,

The post genocide period which has been characterized by Rwandese returning from different parts of the world, coming back to settle and join efforts in the reconstruction of their country, Rwanda immediately became a boiling pot of many cultures and many traditions, it is against this backdrop that Mashirika  was prompted to  introduce a multi art-art form whose  focus is designed to give a visibility of the contemporary culture and the current artistic practice of an extraordinary diverse culture. I must also admit that the challenge of having no theatre facilities has also been a great inspiration to raw creativity.

I believe theatre is a great tool for social transformation not forgetting a variety of films for health Mashirika has been able to produce. Throughout the 9 years of Mashirika,s existence we are currently exploring adventures of new existing forms, my favorite is our recent experimental style, which I can now call real life for real theatre a form that transforms a personal story to stage , this has been a great tool of searching  in depth a connection between a performer and an audience no matter what our differences may be, very effective also in tackling subjects of genocide, justice, reconciliation, healing, tolerance etc … this form also has proved that art is a universal language.

So as our slogan goes Tunashirikiyina (a Swahili word which means let’s join our strength together) and this is where the name Mashirika derives from, we embrace all ideas and most of all our differences which I believe is a great source of imagination and if we can imagine we can create, and later be able to communicate for impact.

Hope Azeda,
Artistic director