PATRICE NAIAMBANA
TRIBAL SOUL ARTS
Tribal Soul is an informal ensemble story making lab space. It was initiated and founded in Chapeltown, Leeds 1991 in response to simplistic representation of Diaspora Life and the sparse opportunity for theatre training that reflected Diaspora Heritage. It began in living rooms, cafes and any other available space where artists and citizens could gather, listen and learn through Diaspora Creativity. It has now matured in methodology and conceptual fertility, traversing a wide range of cultural environments and subject matter whilst retaining the original impulse to put flesh on silences. Each ensemble benefits from insights and responses to catalyst narratives engaged from past lab encounters.
I have termed the process HOTHAUSING - 'HOT' for Southern Narratives and Griot thinking - 'HAUS' inspired by The Bauhaus movement. The creativity and dialogue encounters are shared with wider communities in short durational bursts between 3 days and 5 weeks.
Projects written, conceptualised and facilitated by myself over the last 15 years include a trans-national canon of 'The Gospel of Othello', The Man Who Committed Thought, The Accused, Gravediggers and Perception Gap: Training, Making and Performing anchored in a vibrant Post-Colonial Literacy allied to the raison d'être of The Griot.
Diaspora Consciousness proposes decolonially weighted questions. Such as ''If Swarte Piet could speak what would he say?" or "What does Othello's country-folk make of his story" These questions stimulate story-making and critical thinking by ensembles using a variety of creative strategies. The Lab Storytelling Space has enabled multi-modular insights and experiences relating to Memory, the Unfamiliar story of Strangers and the importance of the communal story space for human flourishing.
Below are short examples of archived projects and info packs. Please make contact for detailed visual documentation and further information.
THE GOSPEL OF OTHELLO - A DOCUMENTED DECOLONIAL DIASPORA CANON - CONCEPTUALISED AND FACILITATED BY NAIAMBANA in 6 countries - ZIMBABWE, MADRID, MOZAMBIQUE, UK, MELBOURNE, PORT St. JOHN-SOUTH AFRICA.
IAGO - The Trickster - Gabriel Carvalho - ROYAL BIRMINGHAM CONSERVATOIRE - 2019
IAGO - The Trickster - Mhondiwa Mhepo - HARARE INTERNATIONAL FESTIVAL OF ARTS 2011
The beautiful KIARA, OTHELLO's beloved haunts him during his wedding feast with DESDEMONA - The Gospel of Othello Residency Royal Birmingham Conservatoire MARCH 2019
CASSIO's Folly
THE ACCUSED BIRMINGHAM REP THEATRE UK 2009
