Embedded Files
The Terre Ceinte (english: Brotherhood), a project organised by Récréâtrales, is a very important theater festival based in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso. The festival is led by Aristide Tarnagda. It tries to question the why of the rise of banditism, the why of the escalation of terrorism, and the why of these fraticidal poison which is taking hold on the African continent and more precisely in Burkina Faso. The festival is aimed at fighting violent extremism and is proposing the creation and implementation of cultural and artistic tools for the prevention of violent extremism and for the initiation of a process of resilience for people who are victims of it. Terre Ceinte presents artistic interventions from various disciplines as theater, dance, music, painting, photography, light and sound technic.
Background: Les Récréâtrales
Les Récréâtrales, as Pan-African residences for theater writing, creation, and research, were established in 2002 by the Burkina Faso theater artist Etienne Minoungou. Their aim was to create a meeting space for French-speaking authors, stage directors, and scenographers from the continent and offer them the comfort of time to create high-demanding contemporary theater performances together. Twenty years later, the Récréâtrales have become one of the major organisers of events in contemporary theater in Africa. Along the way, they have enriched the Bougsemtenga district, whose inhabitants have welcomed the festival and its artists every two years since 2006. The Récréâtrales have also gradually moved away from being solely event-based and have become anchored daily in their territory, building with and for their residents: inhabitants and artists. Besides the festival, they are: a permanent theater, the Theater of Récréâtrales, a college of scenographers and technicians, the Sceno College, a research, training, and creation laboratory, the Labo ELAN, a provider of workshops for children, the Young Public Project, and a professionalization program for young people, the Artistic Application.
The Récréâtrales have become a reference for questions about relating to audiences, the positive economic impact that a cultural event can generate for a neighborhood, and transforming a place of life to achieve beauty. Today, more than ever, the Récréâtrales are invested in producing meaning and connection in a time of fractures and individuality, working to put humanity at the center of the discourse and shows they produce and program to provide guidance for confronting the great scourges of our time.
Challenges: Displacement
A key focus of Terre Ceinte is on communities who have been displaced by terrorism. These include women, children, men, and the elderly who were forced to flee their homes due to attacks that left their towns and villages in ruins. Many of these displaced individuals find themselves living in repurposed public spaces, such as schools and markets, where they are compelled to coexist with people from different backgrounds and communities.
The Terre Ceinte project goes beyond the material support provided by NGOs, such as food, clothing, and logistics, to address the emotional and psychological needs of these displaced populations. Through its artistic interventions, the festival creates spaces for these individuals to express their experiences, share their stories, and begin the process of healing.
Structure
TERRE CEINTE is structured around three axes:
the creation and dissemination of artistic programming in areas affected by terrorism,
amateur artistic practice
the creation of material and digital content.
Targeted changes:
the awakening of the feeling of belonging to the same nation among young Burkinabè people;
Reduction of inter-ethnic tensions, particularly in cities hosting displaced people;
Reducing frustration and the feeling of invisibility among victims of violent extremism;
The initiation of a process of resilience among victims of terrorism to alleviate pain and restore dignity.
Long read: Aguibou Bougobali Sanou (Alumnus Atelier Montreal 2022, director of the In-Out Dance Festival in Burkina Faso) on Building resilience through humanism
Many crises of recent decades have shown us the fragility of humanity. We have been facing existential threats in Afghanistan, Mali, Syria, Burkina Faso, Israel, Palestine, and recently with Russia's invasion of Ukraine, as an example among others. Conflict zones are very sensitive and vulnerable areas. In the scenario of conflicts, we should reconsider how we manage our festivals.
In this note, we will share a few questions and proposals, following various workshops in Montreal, Canada, in June 2022 during the Festival Academy. A social transformation festival is supposed to be a place of gathering, sharing, and security.
But how safe do you feel in a conflict zone? How do you engage the festival in a region in conflict? How do you unite people in vulnerable areas? A conflict region means insecurity, fragility, wickedness, and extremism. How does the festival become resilient and a tool of resistance or conflict resolution?
The need: The needs that I have noted while working with different groups of people are, first of all, the need for expression, the need to express oneself freely, to say what is inside. The need to be listened to and to be heard. It's the need to be loved, the need to feel human, to come together, to (re)humanize. I mean by making oneself listened to and expressing themselves the fact of being able to tell the why, the how, the case of their respective stories.
The approach: Over the years, I have been able to develop my own methodology and technique, being an autodidact, my own approach toward those people who are in urgent need. Toward those people who have had no choice but, on the one hand, to leave their house, their territory by constraint because of war, terrorism, and famine, and on the other hand, others who have been incarcerated. So, the technique that I use is to go through a certain number of games, 2 or 3 games per group, then divide the group into small group formats that lead everyone to be on the same level as the others. Games that lead to freedom from these prejudices, games that lead to participation without making any effort, games that lead to gradually opening up to each other and also being available to listen to others' interaction. Games that lead us to leave the state of the adult to become children. It is very important that it must have, above all, the goal of creating a healthy environment, a secure environment. For example, the game of presenting oneself—who we are, where we come from, presentation of our community, and presentation of the neighbor on the left or right—can be very effective in these cases.
The question: Conflict zones are extremely fragile and risky areas. Working with people from or living in these areas requires a lot of humility, patience, tolerance, love, and humanism. The question that can be asked seeks to understand or to put oneself in the place of others. These must not be questions to judge or to take someone's position. These questions must fundamentally help to soothe and soften the heart. These questions must be about caring for other humans and must not be political.
Page updated
Google Sites
Report abuse