The African Theatre Document and Resource Centre is hosted by CHIPAWO. So, who are what is CHIPAWO: brief bio of CHIPAWO.
The idea to start a centre like this was conceived more than 20 years ago by two African theatre artists – unknown to each other – Professor Mercy Mirembe Ntangaare of Makerere University in Uganda and Robert Mshengu Kavanagh, a South Africa now living in Zimbabwe. When eventually they got to know each other and began talking, they discovered that they had been nursing almost identical ideas for all these years. At last, CHIPAWO came to the rescue and finally the project has got off the ground.
Mercy Mirembe Ntangaare:
“Documentation of not only heritages but processes and experiences of practice has always been a passion I find hard to resist. You’re bound to find lots of scribblings, pieces of paper, books, photographs, and all manner of art facts all around me. It gives me life and keeps me thinking. Who are the entities behind the creations? What could they have been thinking
Robert Mshengu Kavanagh:
“During a wonderful evening at Manyazewal Endeshew’s house in Addis Ababa and after we had supped sumptuously on njera and we,t Belayne Abune, our host and I got to talking about our experiences in theatre. Manyazwal had been Director of the Ethiopian National Theatre and Belayne Chairperson, until recently, of the Theatre Arts Department at Addis Abeba. They both spoke of their yearning to work with other African theatre artists and share news, ideas and scripts with them. I myself had heard other artists all over Africa saying the something thing.”
Chipo Precious Chindungwe:
Mercy Ntangaare, Robert Mshengu Kavanagh and Chipo Basopo are the joint Directors of the Centre. Its activities will be assisted and monitored by an Editorial Board made up of experienced and enthusiastic theatre artists, academics and researchers from different countries all over Africa.