AFRO-NETS> Playing for Life: Performance in Africa in the Age of AIDS

[Janet Feldman <kaippg@earthlink.net>]

Playing for Life: Performance in Africa in the Age of AIDS
----------------------------------------------------------
 
Dear Friends,
 
Hello and here is a fantastic new book, complete with CD, on theatre 
and performance art being used in Africa to address HIV/AIDS. There 
is also a video (20 minutes in length) which I will add info on below 
as well.
 
Louise Bourgault, the author of the book and producer of the video, 
is an educator, author, world traveller, art collector, and passion-
ate advocate for the use of the arts to address HIV/AIDS. She is hop-
ing to develop exchange-program activities in this regard (between 
the US and Africa), drawing upon her extensive experience in Mali, S. 
Africa, and elsewhere in media, the arts, and education, and her deep 
commitment to ameliorate HIV/AIDS. Please see ordering info below, 
and huge kudos to Louise, her publisher and distributor, and the 
amazing artists and programs she has worked with and discovered in 
her travels! 
 
Greatest thanks and all best wishes, 
 
Janet Feldman
mailto:kaippg@earthlink.net 
 
 
----- Original Message -----
From: "Louise Bourgault" <lbourgau@nmu.edu>
Sent: Friday, June 27, 2003 5:01 PM
Subject: Playing for Life
 
 
Title: Playing for Life: Performance in Africa in the Age of AIDS
 
Author: Louise M. Bourgault, Northern Michigan University
April 2003
 
Carolina Academic Press, 700 Kent Street Durham, N.C. 27701, USA
Fax: +1-919-493-5668
emailto:orders@cap-press.com
http://www.cap.press.com
 
Playing for Life: Performance in Africa in the Age of AIDS is a sur-
vey of African performance that uses the focal lens of AIDs perform-
ances to examine performance more generally on the African continent. 
The aim`12` of Playing for Life is three fold. First, the work at-
tempts to provide an introduction to the study of Africa through per-
formance suitable for undergraduate students. Second, it attempts to 
supply a sampling of Africa's rich performative resources. And third, 
it tries to show how Africans are working to harness the energy of 
performance to help solve the most terrible of contemporary problems, 
the AIDS epidemic.
 
This book focuses chiefly on the AIDS epidemic/AIDS performances in 
two African countries, South Africa and Mali. The choice is reflec-
tive a a need to provide at least two different case views of African 
performance and African performative response to the AIDS crisis. The 
countries, so divergent from one another by most social indicators -- 
economy, religion, geography and climate, colonial history, pre-
colonial history, and native and severity of the AIDS epidemic -- of-
fer excellent contrasts from one another, making them ideal selec-
tions for this work.
 
In addition to the maps, charts, and photographs sprinkled throughout 
the volume, the chapters have been illustrated with audio and video 
clips features on the accompanying compact disc (CD).
 
THE VIDEO: "AIDS and the Arts in Africa"
produced by Louise Bourgault, Northern Michigan University, 2001.
 
"AIDS and the Arts in Africa" is a documentary showing some of the 
work popular African artists are producing in the struggle against 
AIDS. Shot on location in Mali and South Africa, the video showcases 
such performing arts genres as drama, dance, puppetry, and song. The 
video also highlights the visual arts of mural and canvas painting. 
"AIDS and the Arts in Africa" is a look at African artists devising 
solutions to the problems of AIDS through their work.
 
In English/Length 20 minutes in NTSC or PAL
Cost US$ 54.95
Distributed by Media for Development International
184 Crescent Lane
Glenwood Springs, CO 81601, USA
mailto:ssmith@mfdi.org
http://www.mfdi.org
--
To send a message to AFRO-NETS, write to: afro-nets@healthnet.org
To subscribe or unsubscribe, write to: majordomo@healthnet.org
in the body of the message type: subscribe afro-nets OR unsubscribe afro-nets
To contact a person, send a message to: afro-nets-help@healthnet.org
Information and archives: http://www.afronets.org