Created in February 2008, Association Djamah-Afrik (People of Africa) is a professional theatre company that produces and disseminates awareness-raising activities, creative workshops, training activities and reflection on themes related to population, social dialogue, peace-building and human rights. Its work is based on the relationship between arts-population and space.
For several years now, we have been organizing several actions in the field of violent extremism and the silence of young people in the neighbourhoods of N'Djamena. This work has allowed us to do two workshops (Abidjan and Abuja) of capacity building with the Institute of Security and Studies (https://issat.dcaf.ch/Share/People-Organisations/Organisations/institut-d-etudes-de-securite).
We are also working on the implementation of workshops called Atwork-Chad under the theme "I have a Dream" in partnership with the National Museum of Chad, since July 2018. These workshops are made with the support of the Moleskine Foundation and Mr. Simon Njami.
Indeed, they consist in promoting the personal development of young people in various fields. Concretely, these workshops allow young participants to build emotional and intellectual tools that will enable them to lead their lives and build their future.
Our work focuses on the theme: Arts population-space, with various productions in public places involving interactive debate, including forums, theatre of social intervention and cultural mediation. Djamaj-Afrik's projects have been presented in the Chadian and international press.
The project "Mutations Urbaines" (Urban Changes), which took place in 2013-2014, is one such project. Aiming to create a portrait of a city on the move, it focused on intercultural dialogue between different communities in Ne Djamena, with the help of artists invited to work with people. It is possible to dialogue around photography, forum theatre and social intervention theatre as a means of expression and in particular rehabilitation, of the life of the inhabitants in the context of the urban expansion of Ne Djamena.
The project's mission was to help mediate between residents, local elected officials and traditional and religious leaders of a neighbourhood, on the one hand, and on the other, to create links between the two neighbourhoods by initiating a dialogue on peaceful and social cohabitation. The project enabled local populations to identify the sources of conflict and discuss them by creating shows around them. The performances, which took place in the public space, were followed by debates and discussions with experts on the topics examined.
Association Djama-Afrik has been following up this work since 2015 and is developing a new project: "Théâtre et Urbanité 2" (Theatre and Urbanity 2) with LES inachevés de Grenoble, Theatre en Folie in Cameroon and other youth structures. It is a participatory project to create shared meeting spaces between the inhabitants. The association also organizes workshops on creativity and social-cultural integration of young people in order to fight against underemployment and the prevention of violent extremism.
