1st Ripple: Lelemama
About Lelemama.
‘Stories of Erasure and Reclamation’.
Uhenga Collective is delighted to introduce Lelemama, the first strand of its feminist storytelling chapters, namely ‘Stories of Erasure and Reclamation’. The project aims to explore Lelemama, a women’s horn dance and allied women-only ngoma traditions, as a cultural expression for feminist resistance. Specifically, it revisits Lelemama’s role in Tanganyika’s independence struggles and its purging (or not) in post-independence national building narratives. Historical documents suggest that Lelemama dancers cleverly disguised their activism as entertainment to evade colonial surveillance while fostering political consciousness and mobilization. Their leadership style shaped the nationalist movement, making it more inclusive and euphoric.
‘What is the point of a revolution if we can’t dance’
Lelemama Phases.
1
Archival research
This initial phase provides artists and facilitators with preliminary information to understand the project's scope, approach, and political significance in feminist knowledge production. The output is an archive that the participating artists will engage with. This phase also identifies knowledge holders who will serve as interlocutors during intergenerational dialogues in the subsequent phases.
2
Artists’ Residency
Over five weeks (16th August to 6th September), artists will participate in weekly facilitated convenings. During this time, they will be onboarded, conduct research, produce works, and partake in their curation. The residency includes documenting the process and lessons learned, engaging with the archive, exploring historical and cultural significance, visiting significant landmarks, and conversing with knowledge and memory keepers. Each day of the residency will have its own focus, stimulating imagination, introspection, and dialogue. Artists will also curate the exhibition of their works for the public event.
3
Public event
On October 11th, a full-day interactive, performative, and multidisciplinary public program will showcase the project's processes and outputs. The event will unveil the artists' works, co-curated with the artists themselves. The contributions will add to Lelemama’s new narrative and a growing body of feminist herstory archive.
Lelemama Resident Artists.
Diana Kamara
PhD candidate at Makerere Institute of Social Research. She has M Phil in Social Studies (2019) from Makerere University and MA in Fine Arts (2015) from the University of Dar es Salaam. Her research interests include gendered readings of African fashion and textile. She is a painter, a poet, essayist and an African textiles enthusiast. In the last four years she has been creating and sharing khanga selfies on social media not only to claim African textile space on the internet but also to celebrate Swahili visual and literary heritage.
Faith Andrew
A performer, poet, and lover of all things creative. I love stepping on stage, bringing characters to life, and turning everyday moments into stories. Through acting, poetry, and theatre, I express emotions, share experiences, and connect with people in a fun and meaningful way. I enjoy experimenting with different roles, costumes, and ideas, and I believe creativity can make life more colorful and exciting. My goal is to inspire, entertain, and remind people of the magic that comes from imagination and self-expression."
Getrude Malizeni
Getrude is a creative filmmaker, multidisciplinary visual artist, and curator from Tanzania. She uses storytelling to document and archive the lived herstories of women, drawing from her own experiences and the indigenous feminist practices of her community. She is a founding member of Ajabu Ajabu, a collective dedicated to preserving, producing, and presenting audio-visual work. Her art journey began in 2020 at Nafasi Academy, where she found her voice. Later that year, she joined Ajabu Ajabu Audio Visual House, where she continues to explore and expand her creativity.
Irene Themistocles Rugakingira
She started dancing since when she saw her friend dancing in the street. She then joined MuDa Africa Dance School for a three-year dance program. Since then Irene has been working with different choreographers and trainers teaching and choreographing at the MuDa Africa Together with other female dance artists she started Girls Power Dance Group, a female performing arts’ group based in Dar es Salaam, aimed at establishing, educating, empowering, encourage and providing a platform for women through performing arts and entrepreneurship.
Liberatha Alibalio
Liberatha Alibalio is a multi-disciplinary artist whose practice is grounded in research and experimentation, working across textiles, performance, and moving images. Her work explores themes of self-knowledge, including ancestral memory and history, and how they inform consciousness and contemporary narratives from different contexts. Recently, she was a resident research artist at Deveron Projects in Huntly, Scotland, where she developed a project titled: The Museum of Embodied Knowledge; a contributor and participating artist in the Interwoven Waters conservation research project in East Africa, with public engagements in the Yala Swamp Basin, Kakamega Forest, Kisumu (Kenya), and Brussels; a featured artist in the WeWorld – Menstrual Justice Project in Tanzania and Italy; and an exhibiting artist in the New Visions exhibition at Circle Art Gallery in Nairobi, Kenya, where she presented textile quilts exploring themes of identity, memory, and belonging..
Djumey Aloyce
Dumey Aloyce Kijwiti is a passionate Tanzanian artist and media presenter with a Bachelor's degree in Theatre Arts from the University of Dar es Salaam (2022-2025). His creative journey includes participating in the documentary "Voice of Change" in Bagamoyo, addressing child marriage, and directing and performing in the play "Manzese" inspired by "Ngoswe Penzi Kitovu cha Uzembe".in TaSuBa.(Bagamoyo) As a versatile talent, Dumey has worked on stage (sanaa za majukwaani)and in the media as a radio and TV presenter. i also lead a radio program (Binti longa)a youth centered program focusing on women's issues. Through performance and presentation, she uses his voice and creativity to educate, advocate, and inspire positive change.
Lelemama Residency Facilitators.
Demere Kitunga
Facilitator and Curator
Rehema Chachage
Co facilitator and Co-curator
Nanguma Fryer
Project Administrator