HOPE AZEDA

INTERVIEW WITH HOPE AZEDA

Speaking with Hope Azeda is a significantly uplifting and restorative experience. She combines sharp intellect, a compassionate world-view and a firm belief in the power for art to inspire and change. These are not abstract ideas for Hope; through her work with her company Mashirika Performing Arts  and her curatorship of the Ubumuntu Arts Festival, she has been the artistic force behind a huge range of productions with social justice at their core in her home country of Rwanda, and on the international stage. A recent winner of the 2018 McNulty Laureate Prize, Hope’s passionate and dynamic efforts to generate intercultural and intergenerational conversation are gaining global recognition. 

We shared a lot of laughter this interview, though we spoke about immensely difficult subjects such as Hope’s journey from a refugee in Uganda and returning to Rwanda after the genocide, and where she thought the artistic community had an important voice in helping others to understand trauma and move towards reconciliation. Her drive shines brightly in this conversation; we see her belief and commitment to the next generation of Rwandan artists, and her will to make spaces for them to prosper.