Ms Catherine KARIUKI
kathy_wanji@yahoo.com
Secretary
Institute of Performing Artists Limited – IDEA, Kenya

Ms Catherine Wanjiru Kariuki is an experienced theatre practitioner with a long theatre history spanning over 25 years as an actress and theatre educator. She has been actively involved in different genres of theatre including films, TV, radio and stage plays as an actress, director, stage manager, costume manager, etc. In theatre, she enjoys working with the disadvantaged especially street children and prisoners. She has been working with one-woman cell and one-man cell prisons in Kenya using theatre therapy. Her dream is to use theatre to bring positive change in our society. She has a lot of interest in theatre for social transformation.

She has been instrumental in forging useful networks for artists across the East African region and internationally. She has participated in many theatre festivals in Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Ethiopia, Cameroon, Sweden, Norway, and Canada etc. She has also participated in international symposiums in Peru and Portugal where she also participated in IDEA GCM meetings.

Currently she is one of the board members of the Institute of Performing Artists Limited, which is a theatre organization based in Kenya. IPAL seeks to promote theatre in Kenya and the East African region through workshops and networking. IPAL believes in using theatre not only for enjoyment but also as a development tool.

She has involved in Dramatool since its birth and is currently one of the coordinators in Kenya. She is the current secretary of IDEA. Before being elected the secretary of IDEA she was one of the members of solidarity committee of IDEA.

Arts, Culture and Creativity as a Vehicle for Positive Change
Arts and creativity have been used to address political, economic and social issues.  In this aspect, I will want to address four cardinal areas that have and continue to effectively use the arts as a medium for dialogue. This includes:

How has culture, arts and creativity been used to address these issues?

Vehicle for hope, reconstruction in social strife - For example many tribes in my country Kenya use songs and dance as therapy. We have experienced tribal strife and many times during peace negotiations, it is characterized by song and dance.

Negotiation and dialogue tool – In trade and conflict resolutions, artistic pieces have been developed e.g. Blood Diamond and Hotel Rwanda movies.

Education on trends and development tool – Theatre In Education (TIE), Theatre In Development (TFD, Community Development Theatre (CCT) etc have successfully been employed as vehicles for education and information dissemination especially in addressing Millennium Development Goals (MDG’s)

Theatre groups in Kenya have partnered with civil society to use theatre not only for entertainment but also as a tool for social transformation.

Catherine Kariuki 女士

Catherine Wanjiru Kariuki 女士是擁有25年豐富經驗的戲劇從業員。她身兼多職，是女演員及戲劇教育家。她熱心教導邊緣社群如街童及囚犯等學戲劇。她在建立東非戲劇人員國際網絡上不遺餘力，現為IDEA秘書。

「藝術文化創意作為帶來正面改變的工具」

藝術文化創意可幫助開展對話，特別可用在回應：1)全球化與經濟衝突；2)文化之間衝突；3)疾病貧窮的負擔及4)千禧年發展目標。不同的藝術手法為社會重新締造希望，如歌舞治療、作談判對話工具(如電影血鑽)及作為教育發展工具，如劇場教育。