SOAS academic awarded grant for collaborative theatre project to highlight political ...

7 February 2022

The Global Research Network on Parliaments and People (GRNPP) led by Professor Emma Crewe has received a grant of around £150k from the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) to enable members of the Mursi community in Southern Ethiopia to create innovative ways to enhance policy-makers' understanding of their pressures, rights and aspirations.

A network of pastoralists, scholars, playwrights, and film-makers are embarking on Performing for Peace: Tirainya ko Koisani by using performance, theatre, film and ethnography to explore and imagine what political representation of marginalised groups in Ethiopia might look like despite the huge on-going challenges. The Mursi will be both speaking for themselves and advocating for their rights with the support of colleagues in Ethiopia and the UK.

This coalition between SOAS, Wolkite University, the South Omo Theatre Company, and members of the Mursi community, also aims to deepen understanding, political engagement and representation for highly stigmatised groups; champion the use of arts in deepening democracy and peacebuilding; and learn about working towards more equitable partnerships.

Building on an existing two year partnership, this follow-on grant enables the project to fulfil the vision explained in a short film by Mursi pastoralist and film-maker Olisalari Olibui Tolongu and the playwright Tesfahun Haddis Hailu.

Emma Crewe, Professor of Social Anthropology and GRNPP project leader said:

"This coalition is led by Olisarali Olibui Tongulu, a community spokesperson, film-maker and now playwright, while the rest of us are a mix of anthropologists, theatre studies scholars and film-makers. The Arts and Humanities Research Council has awarded us this grant to enable members of a highly marginalised community (the Mursi in Southern Ethiopia) to perform a play, and reflect within a documentary and academic publications, with the goal of enhancing policy-makers' understanding of their political situation. This is one of the most exciting initiatives I've engaged with and even if my role is relatively small, I'm very proud to be part of it."

Find out more about Performing for Peace: Tirainya ko Koisani

Find out more about The Global Research Network on Parliaments and People (GRNPP) project