How can artists change cultures of fear and harm while working under those systems? This is a series in cultural strategizing designed for artists, visionaries, and cultural leaders. Join us in person and online to connect and learn from lived experiences with authoritarianism, corruption, fear tactics, etc. What tools and strategies do we have in our skill sets? Movement, music, allegory, humor, metaphor… how have they been applied successfully elsewhere to sustain humanity? Let’s identify our super powers together and put them to good use.
Movement as a Site of Resistance
Saturday, May 10
10:30am–12:30pm EST
In-person workshop with Samwel Japhet & Tanvi Hegade
This workshop will begin at 10:30am and is followed by lunch for participants.
Find out more about Movement as a Site of Resistance
A live workshop with Samwel Japhet & Tanvi Hegade
Whether in India, Tanzania, or the U.S., each body has great potential for healing, empowerment, and change. Across the globe and here at home, how can movement challenge power, sustain hope, and strengthen communities in times of crisis? This workshop equips us with tools to get grounded, resist oppression, reclaim space, and reimagine through movement. Led by two Global Fellows with unique stories and expertise in the restorative and emancipating potential of movement, we will practice working from within our own bodies and present moment, cultivating homeostasis and tapping into play as a form of resistance to stay embodied, empowered, and connected.
This workshop is intentionally designed as an opportunity for artists, humanitarians, and cultural leaders based in and around the DC epicenter to connect in person, whether or not you consider yourself a dancer, mover, performer, or none of the above.
Participants will be led remotely by award winning dance artist and social entrepreneur Samwel Japhet in Tanzania and the India Vice President of ITI’s International Dance Committee, Tanvi Hegade in India, facilitated in person by The Lab’s Associate Director, Emma Jaster.
10:30am-12:30pm @ The Lab Studio in DC
Participants are invited to stay for a communal lunch following the workshop.
Stories, Seeds, and Survivance
Monday, May 12
11:00am–12:30pm EST
Online workshop with Fidaa Ataya & Dovie Thomason
Find out more about Stories, Seeds, and Subversions
A workshop that is not a workshop with Fidaa Ataya & Dovie Thomason
Stories are like a secret code, a cultural DNA; they carry keys to life based on our ancestors’ struggles and strengths, their strategies and values. When our culture and way of living are attacked in the material world, we keep them strong in our stories, planting them in the hearts and minds of all who hear them, all who will pass them on. Stories connect us to our past and shape our futures, helping us to imagine alternatives, to envision the dreams towards which we can collectively mobilize.
Led by Global Fellow Fidaa Ataya, Artistic Director of The Seraj Storytelling Academy, and master storier Dovie Thomason, participants will hear, share, and shape stories of their own for this moment. We call this session a workshop that is not a workshop but an opportunity to connect, share, and build relations across borders, boundaries, cultures, and traditions.
“It seems to me that we are in a space between stories, seeking an overstory— a unifying narrative with space for many voices…and laughter. My hope is to use storying as it’s always been used—to show us ways of being and being together in good relations.” – Dovie Thomason
Why Soft Power is Not So Soft; Artists as Changemakers
Tuesday, May 13
11:00am–12:30pm EST
A (pep) talk with Ambassador Cynthia Schneider
Find out more about Why Soft Power is Not So Soft; Artists as Change Makers
A (pep) Talk with Ambassador Cynthia Schneider, Co-Founding Director of The Lab
Sometimes in the face of adversity, it’s easy to forget the power artists have. Don’t.
Extremists and totalitarians get why culture matters and fight hard to control the narrative. We can wield culture for good.
From the Khmer Rouge to ISIS, extremists have destroyed history, literally and figuratively, to erase existing identities and impose their radical ideologies, rewriting the story to justify their actions. History suggests that ultimately the extremists and totalitarians fail, but it can be hard to imagine our way out when we’re in the midst of it.
Enter the artists, cultural, and intellectual leaders. Artists hold up a mirror to authority. They can tell you what really happened. They can show what the people are thinking, and have the power to move people to action, to connect across borders and differences to fuel movements for socio-political change.
This review of artists’ influence on political change throughout history and the world will remind us of what culture-bearers have accomplished, and, hopefully, inspire us to action. As Wole Soyinka said, “Culture humanizes; politics demonizes.” We need humanity to break through the extreme demonization of today. It has happened before; it can happen again.
Goddesses, Caution Tape & Torches: The Joys of Theatrical Resistance
Wednesday, May 14
11:00am–12:30pm EST
A conversation with Laszlo Upor & Todd London
Find out more about Goddesses, Caution Tape & Torches: The Joys of Theatrical Resistance
A conversation with Laszlo Upor & Todd London
When Victor Orbán’s authoritarian government began its “model change” plan for higher education in 2020, a euphemism for “privatization” and “takeover” aimed at eradicating university autonomy and placing public assets in the hands (and pockets) of government loyalists, only one university in Hungary fought back: the University of Theater and Film Arts (SZFE). Faculty and school leadership resigned (but kept teaching through a collective “Learning Republic” created with students) and the students mounted a seventy-one day blockade of the school. Ended by a national COVID lockdown, the blockade was distinguished by creative performance, design, music, and the mass participation of ordinary citizens—a truly staged resistance movement. Including photos and short films of the students’ performative protests, this session features a discussion between SZFE’s Rector at the time, Lázló Upor, a pre-eminent Hungarian dramaturg, educator, and translator of English-language plays, and fellow author, educator, and artistic director Todd London, with whom Upor is translating Lessons in Resistance: How a Small Hungarian Arts University Faced Down a Big Bully Government, his personal chronicle of the years of resistance and the formation of Freeszfe Society, a cooperative pan-European academy for artists.
From a four-mile-long human chain to a torchlight ceremony in the rain, from the appearance of Blind Justice at the Halls of Justice to an art installation delivered by bicycle to the gates of Parliament, these playful, passionate demonstrations and the symbols that arose from this movement inspired artists around the world. “Goddesses, Caution Tape & Torches” will dive into the mechanism of governmental incursion in the arts and higher ed and provide examples of ways artists can use their talents to stand up to tyranny. Participants can get a bit of the backstory by reading about the Learning Republic.
Thursday, May 15
11:00am–12:30pm EST
Panel discussion moderated by Global Fellow Ada Mukhina, with Kiyo Gutierrez, Teddy Mangawa, Dijana Milosovic, and Trà Nguyễn
Find out more about Taking Care, Taking Risks
An international dialogue on artistic impact
As world events unfold, many of us find ourselves simultaneously feeling at greater risk and taking greater risks. There are toolkits, websites, resources on risk and impact for artistic resistance in the USA (see this recent workbook from Theater Communications Group). But what does taking risk look like in different political contexts worldwide? Meet international artists and cultural workers actively engaged in work that navigates questions of risk with great care. How do we define our circle of influence and artistic strategies? What is our role: to speak inside theatre or join broader political movements? How do we find and define risk for ourselves? What would it look like to build an international network of care and solidarity for those taking risks across the globe?
This panel discussion will be moderated by Ada Mukhina, creator of Risk Lab and feature artists from The Lab’s Creative Core and Global Fellows program including Kiyo Gutierrez in Mexico, Teddy Mangawa in Zimbabwe, Dijana Milosovic in Serbia, and Tra Nguyen in Vietnam.
Photo of Risk Lab by Daniela Wolf.
Fidaa Ataya
Fidaa Ataya is a storyteller. Her grandmother, forcibly expelled from her home and homeland in Al Bourj Palestine in 1948, would tell her stories. As she listened, Fidaa would fly with her imagination across borders, across the occupation, to freedom. Traditionally, women in Palestine told stories in private, not in public. But Fidaa tells stories in public, using them as a tool for survival, to pass on the anthropology of her people, to prove their existence and resistance. She holds a bachelor’s degree in education and psychology, diplomas in drama and education and playback theatre, and an MEd in Integrated Arts from Plymouth State University (NH). Fidaa has produced and performed shows in Palestine, Europe, America, and the Arab world and performed in numerous festivals across the globe. Fidaa has founded or co-founded a number of groups including the Art and Activism Residency, Hakaya Group to revive traditional Palestinian storytelling, Arabic School of Playback, Women’s Theatre at Burj Al-Barajna refugee camp, The Rain Singer Theatre at Tulkarm refugee camp, and the Palestinian American Children’s Theatre (PACT), (hARAM) heart Al Risan Art Museum. She is a Drama in Education Specialist and Faculty Member at the Arab School of Playback Theatre, a member of ITC4 in New York, as well as a puppeteer, filmmaker, and director. She has directed several short films which have been shown in Palestine, within the United States, and in Italy. Fidaa is a fellow with Georgetown University in the performing art and politics program. With Seraj Libraries, she is helping to open the National Storytelling Center in Palestine.
Kiyo Gutiérrez
Kiyo Gutiérrez is a Mexican performance artist and historian. Her work explores the environmental, social and political issues affecting contemporary society. Through her body, she seeks to explore performance art’s potential as a tool of resistance. She is often inspired by elements of the prehispanic past, bit she also draws on other mediums such as theatre, dance and poetry. With the hope of eroding preconceived notions of nature, culture, gender, identity, sexuality and art, Kiyo strives to dissolve cultural taboos that have been constructed under a patriarchal system and generate discussions about our complex social realities.
Tanvi Hegade
Samwel Japhet
Samwel Japhet is a Tanzanian dance artist, choreographer, and social entrepreneur who found his voice through dance after a rough childhood of homelessness and abuse. He works at the intersection of dance, storytelling, and social issues, using movement as a tool for artistic expression, storytelling, and an invitation to transcendence and critical reflection on social and political realities. His choreographic approach blends dance with visual storytelling, real-life experiences, text, music, and dialogue to explore human relationships and societal dynamics. He is particularly interested in cross-cultural collaboration, building artistic relationships between Africa and the rest of the world. His work has toured festivals and theaters in the Netherlands, South Korea, Israel, South Africa, Portugal, Mozambique, Germany, Ethiopia, Italy and beyond.
He is a recipient of the 2021 Seed Award from the Prince Claus Fund for Culture and Development and a 2024-2026 Global Fellow with The Laboratory for Global Performance and Politics at Georgetown University. He is also a Salzburg Global Fellow – Culture, Arts, and Society. A graduate of the MUDA Africa Dance School in Tanzania, he co-managed UMOJA, a multidisciplinary residency program for East African and European artists, from 2021 to 2022. In 2015, he co-founded Nantea Dance Company, a Tanzanian non-profit that produces multifaceted performances and community-based projects. Through his work, he strives to address global challenges and build a culture where art not only reflects reality but also inspires new possibilities.
Todd London
Todd London has been a leading figure in the U.S. nonprofit theater for more than 35 years and was the first recipient of Theater Communications Group’s Visionary Leadership Award for “an individual who has gone above and beyond the call of duty to advance the theater field as a whole…” He spent 18 seasons as Artistic Director of New York’s New Dramatists. From 2014-18 he was Executive Director of the University of Washington’s School of Drama, where he held the Floyd U. Jones Family Endowed Chair. His many books include two novels, If You See Him, Let Me Know and The World’s Room; This Is Not My Memoir (with Andre Gregory); and theater books, An Ideal Theater; Outrageous Fortune; The Importance of Staying Earnest; The Artistic Home, and Zelda Fichandler’s The Long Revolution (editor). He is founding director of The Third Bohemia retreat and director of the Legacy Playwrights Initiative.
Teddy Mangawa
Teddy Mangawa is a professional theatre actor, director and educator born and raised in the high-density suburb of Mabvuku, Harare, Zimbabwe. He comes from a large family of nine siblings. He loved watching the vibrant theatre scene in his community as a young boy, but never thought he could be a part of it himself. After being convinced to fill in for a sick actor in a production led by his friend, Teddy discovered his calling, and decided to pursue theater professionally.
He graduated from Dell’Arte International School of Physical Theatre in California and became a certified arts manager from the University of Zimbabwe. Teddy joined Savanna Trust as an actor and worked his way up to becoming the Creative Manager. He is an educator and administrator at Zimbabwe Theatre Academy and served as the Chairperson of the Zimbabwe Theatre Association from 2017 to 2021. He received two National Arts Merit Awards for Acting and two nominations for Directing. Teddy is Artistic Director of the Mitambo International Theatre Festival and Coordinator of the Accelerating Creative Capabilities and Entrepreneurship Theatre Festival.
He uses drama to raise awareness and engage communities on human rights, public health, politics and development issues. Teddy strongly believes that the arts play a crucial role in citizen engagement, particularly in addressing matters of inclusion.
Dijana Milosevic
Ada Mukhina
Trà Nguyễn
Trà Nguyễn experiments with theater and builds frameworks to transfer such capacity. Her theater works, typically extremely slow-pacing, seek to open up and reside in the quieting space of attention. She earned an MFA in Dramatic Writing at Carnegie Mellon University (US) on Fulbright scholarship, and has presented her plays and workshops in Vietnam, Japan, Germany, Switzerland, and the US. Currently based in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, Trà Nguyễn builds infrastructure for experimental theater-making via production, training, and critical discourses with her initiative The Run – A Theater Project. She also writes screenplays to reflect the osmosis of sciences in modern life, portraying the human struggles to connect in the digitally webbed world.
Cynthia P. Schneider
Cynthia P. Schneider, Distinguished Professor in the Practice of Diplomacy at Georgetown University, teaches, publishes, and organizes initiatives in the field of cultural diplomacy, with a focus on relations with the Muslim world. Ambassador Schneider co-directs the Los Angeles-based MOST Resource (Muslims on Screen and Television). Additionally, she co-directs the Timbuktu Renaissance, an innovative strategy and platform for countering extremism and promoting peace and development, which grew out of her work leading the Arts and Culture Dialogue Initiative within Brookings’ Center for Middle East Policy.
Cynthia teaches courses in Diplomacy and Culture in the School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University, where, from 1984-2005, she was a member of the art history faculty, and published on Rembrandt and seventeenth century Dutch art. She also organized exhibitions at the National Gallery of Art and the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.
Cynthia publishes and speaks frequently on topic related to arts, culture, and media and international affairs, particularly about the Muslim world. Her writings range from blogs for the Huffington Post, CNN.com, and Foreign Policy to policy papers for Brookings.
From 1998-2001 she served as U.S. Ambassador to the Netherlands, during which time she led initiatives in cultural diplomacy, biotechnology, cyber security, and education. Cynthia has a Ph. D. and BA from Harvard University, and she serves on multiple Boards of Directors and Advisory Boards. http://cynthiapschneider.org/
Dovie Thomason
Dovie Thomason, of Lakota, Apache, and Scot Traveller descent, draws on her mixed background in her work. In the four decades of her life’s work with Storying, she has been inspired by Gerald Vizenor’s (Anishnaabe) words:
“Survivance is an active sense of presence, the continuance of native stories…”.
It has led her from the retelling of stories first heard from her grandmother, and then other elder tellers from her own and other indigenous nations—the “preservation” of cultural stories—to the “continuance” through cultural stories speaking to contemporary listeners and issues. These original stories are the braidings of traditional teachings, unspoken stories, family stories of relatives and relationships, erased histories and future imaginings.
László Upor
László Upor is a dramaturg, literary translator, essayist and university professor. He is specialised in contemporary drama and performing arts. He has worked both with mainstream companies and with a great number of independent artists, physical and puppet theatres. He has published three books and numerous articles on theatre, film, and contemporary circus. His translations include novels, non-fiction and over 50 stage plays. He is former Vice Rector/ Acting Rector of University of Theatre and Film Arts (SzFE) in Budapest where he taught for over three decades. He is founding member of Freeszfe Society, formed by students and faculty who left SzFE after a long battle with the Hungarian government.
This series is presented by The Center for International Theater Development & The Laboratory for Global Performance and Politics in partnership with The Horizons Project.
