2006-01-17Staff Report 2 "By Frederick Philander WINDHOEK A HIGH-level international expert theatre delegation is this week expected to arrive on a three-day fact-finding and recruiting mission in the country. The delegation, expected to arrive in the capital on Wednesday evening, will be led by the Executive Secretary of the Southern African Theatre Initiative (SATI), Mpho Molepo, from Johannesburg. According to a press statement issued on Friday in South Africa, the delegation will be visiting several Southern African countries on behalf of the Windybrow Theatre Centre, a government-funded theatre house in Johannesburg. ""We have been approached by the Windybrow Centre as a de facto theatre promoter in the region to assist in establishing contacts and networks with worthy theatre and arts practitioners in the whole SADC Region. We are happy to be of service to the arts fraternity in the region in which we have been operating for the past five years as an independent body,"" said the executive secretary of SATI, Mpho Molepo, telephonically yesterday from his home in Johannesburg. The four-person delegation yesterday left for Lusaka, Zambia and will start negotiating with and talking to Zambian theatre actors, stage managers and local playwrights as from this morning until Wednesday. ""The same creative, administrative and meaningful theatre talks will be conducted with Namibian artists on our arrival in Namibia on Thursday morning until Saturday. We will be meeting with a wide spectrum of Namibian artists at the Katutura Community Arts Centre on Thursday morning at 09h00,"" said Molepo. Among those expected to attend Thursday's meeting in Katutura are representatives of the Ministry of Youth, National Service, Sport and Culture, the College of the Arts, the Performing Arts Department of the University of Namibia, the National Theatre of Namibia, community theatre groups and the Namibian National Arts Council. It is general knowledge that the Southern African region has been struggling for years to properly unite theatre under a regional umbrella body due to deep-rooted differences within the theatre fraternity. Namibia is also represented on the board of the Southern African Theatre Initiative (SATI) since its inception 5 years ago under the auspices of the Market Theatre in Johannesburg. Thursday's meeting at the KACA starts at 09h00. People interested in attending the meeting and meeting the delegation, can call David Ndjavera at 277300 for further information." 2006-01-17Staff Report 2
