Khamalathu Arts and Research, a Blantyre-based theatre group yesterday dared the corporate world, government and other players to engage them saying they have potential having been involved in a number of projects.
The group’s secretary Felistas Kamlonie said this in Blantyre during the launch of a book written by Effie Makepeace from United Kingdom and translated in Chichewa by dramatist Misheck Msumara, who is currently in United States of America.
“We come a long way as a group and we have done so much on the ground in terms holding performances, training others and even conducting research. But despite being in existence for years, we are still in need of opportunities, we want to be engaged,” Kamlonie, who through drama has earned spots to Europe for performances, said.
Makepeace, a PhD holder from University of Sussex, has worked with other players in the country including Nanzikambe Arts utilising drama as a powerful tool in empowering women to tackle various issues in society.
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The book details issues from a research that Khamalathu Arts conducted in the country focusing on the subject of power.
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Using drama, Khamalathu Arts whose members solely depend on art to make a living reached out to different people on the subject of power particularly engaging fellow women.
“A lot of players have been involved in producing this book but the most important thing is that the issues that we discovered during our outings are documented in this book,” Kamlonie said of the book which has been printed and distributed in the country with assistance from the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama.
Makepeace said in an interview from United Kingdom yesterday that it was a pleasure for her to work on this project with Khamalathu Arts.
“They were central to the research process. Having a short version of the PhD in Chichewa is important to make the work as accessible as possible to a wider audience and to challenge the idea that academic work always has to happen in English,” she said.
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Guest of honour during the launch, National Theatre Association of Malawi (Ntam) President Maxwell Chiphinga popularly known as Max DC hailed Khamalathu Arts for partaking in the arts particularly focusing on drama.
“These women are our members and over the years they have shown that women have what it takes to excel in drama. They have shown that one can make a living through drama. In the past years, it was a challenge for many women to do theatre but now things have changed. We still need more women in the game,” Chiphinga said.
During the launch which attracted the presence of Girls Empowerment Network which has also been working with the women, saw Khamalathu Arts perform a sketch to showcase their talent.
