2 Autesserre, Séverine, ‘Dangerous Tales: Dominant Narratives about the Congo and Their Unintended Consequences’, African Affairs, 111, 443 (2012), pp. 202–22CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

3 For instance, the famous Congolese choreographer Faustin Linyekula in Art in Troubled Times wonders when Africans might, if they feel like it, speak of flowers. O'Toole, Sean, ‘Coming through Slaughter’ in Heidenreich-Seleme, Lien and O'Toole, Sean, eds., and Guy, Gabrielle, design, Über(w)unden: Art in Troubled Times (Auckland Park: Jacana Media Ltd, 2012), pp. 204–11Google Scholar, here p. 209. See his stance in this video: www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZlKVbVlFBYI, accessed 5 May 2019. During a conversation with the audience after the performance of his vaudeville-like play Peau de caméléon, Ghislain Kabuyaya, a playwright and spoken-word artist from Goma, linked his desire to speak about love and to be funny, to this time of ‘atrocities’ in the Kivus, saying that people need love and humour (personal fieldwork journal, Goma, 23 March 2019).

4 Annick Asso, Le Théâtre du Génocide: Shoah et génocides arménien, rwandais et bosniaque (Paris: Honoré Champion, 2013).

5 See Maëline Le Lay, ‘La parole construit le pays’: Théâtre, langues et didactisme au Katanga (République démocratique du Congo) (Paris: Honoré Champion, 2014).

6 According to Trefon, ‘neighbourhood associations, local NGOs and community-based solidarity networks proliferated significantly since the 1990s. They formed the basis of an emergent civil society. The phenomenon expanded because people didn't have any other choice than inventing new strategies of social and economic subsistence.’ Theodore Trefon, Congo: La mascarade de l'aide au développement, trans. by Michaela Raimo (Louvain-la-Neuve: Academia-L'Harmattan, 2013), p. 157

7 He labelled this autonomization process kujisaidia wenyewe in Kiswahili, meaning ‘relying on oneself’.

8 Describing the change of government in 1993, Reyntjens writes, ‘In the past, political regimes have been deeply suspicious of any non-governmental structure; this is how they made considerable efforts to impose state control over cooperatives in order to prevent civil society from developing autonomous centers of economic power. This is part of a long authoritarian tradition, which attempts as much as possible to “criss-cross” the country … Burundi is slowly emerging from this tradition; NGO approval procedures remain cumbersome, and until 1993 the government remained reluctant about these initiatives.’ Filip Reyntjens, L'Afrique des Grands Lacs en crise: Rwanda–Burundi: 1988–1993 (Paris: Karthala, Les Afriques, 1994), pp. 165–6, translations my own.

9 After Ndadaye's assassination, Cyprien Ntaryamira was the interim president chosen by political parties in January 1994. On 6 April 1994, Ntaryamira, together with the Rwandan president Juvénal Habyarimana, died in the attack on the presidential aeroplane in Kigali airport, immediately followed by the beginning of the genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda. On 30 September 1994, a new president was invested in Burundi, Sylvestre Ntibatunganya, who failed to cease the war, and on 26 July 1996 Major Pierre Buyoya seized power.

10 As Palmans notes, ‘Due to the economic embargo imposed on the country after the Buyoya coup, the suspension of cooperation and the effects of war, the country has fallen into a state of extreme poverty. Moreover, the Buyoya regime was not in favor of the development of a strong civil society and instead discouraged the creation of associations. Even though fewer associations were created, from 1996 peace began to be discussed, and international organizations, such as UNESCO, Search for Common Ground, and many others, helped in this direction’. Eva Palmans, ‘L’évolution de la société civile au Burundi’, in Filip Reyntjens and Stefaan Marysse, eds., L'Afrique des Grands Lacs: Annuaire 2005–2006 (Paris: L'Harmattan, 2006), pp. 209–32, here p. 221, translations my own.

11 Reyntjens, L'Afrique des Grands Lacs en crise, p. 256.

12 André Bourque, ‘L'aide non étatique au Rwanda: Des leçons de 1994?’, Tiers-Monde, 46, 183 (2005), pp. 675–703.

13 See Doctors without Borders in a report published on March 1994, Survie & FIDH by Jean Carbonare on France 2 in January 1993, UN report in August 1993.

14 About the ambiguous role of NGOs in Rwanda during the genocide and immediately following see Andy Storey, ‘Non-Neutral Humanitarianism: NGOs and the Rwanda Crisis’, Development in Practice, 7, 4 (November 1997), pp. 384–94.

15 Nelly Fualdes, ‘Classement Doing Business 2018: Le Rwanda confirme son rôle de champion africain’, Jeune Afrique, 2 November 2017 at www.jeuneafrique.com/489122/economie/classement-doing-business-2018-le-rwanda-confirme-son-role-de-champion-africain, accessed 2 July 2019.

16 Stéphane Ballong, ‘Rwanda ou les secrets d'un bon élève’, Jeune Afrique, 9 July 2014, at www.jeuneafrique.com/8698/economie/le-rwanda-ou-les-secrets-d-un-bon-l-ve, accessed 2 July 2019.

17 Olivier Caslin, ‘Rwanda: Questions sur un champion’, Jeune Afrique, 6 September 2017, at www.jeuneafrique.com/mag/468589/economie/rwanda-questions-sur-un-champion, accessed 2 July 2019.

18 Da Silva Florence, ‘Le gouvernement rwandais fait le ménage parmi les ONG’, Dialogues et Documents pour le Progrès de l'Humanité; Expériences de paix en 1996: engagements de la société civile dans la construction de la paix: éducation, culture, médiation. Retour sur quelques conflits: Rwanda, Tchétchénie, January 1996, at www.irenees.net/bdf_fiche-dph-2211_en.html, accessed 2 July 2019.

19 ICTJ (International Center for Transitional Justice), at www.ictj.org, accessed 14 November 2020.

20 Ibid.

21 Béatrice Pouligny, ‘Art, création et dimensions intangibles de la reconstruction individuelle et collective’, in Jean-Luc Brackelaire, Marcela Cornejo and Jean Kinable, eds., Violence politique et traumatisme: Processus d’élaboration et de création (Louvain-la-Neuve: Academia L'Harmattan, 2013), pp. 109–27.

22 Ibid., p. 110.

23 Ibid.

24 Maëline Le Lay, ‘Literary and Artistic Circulations in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Rwanda and Burundi, from the Belgian Colonial Empire to Africa of the Great Lakes’, Artl@s Bulletin, 5, 2 (2016), pp. 43–56, here pp. 47–8.

25 In Kinyarwanda, hagati yacu means ‘between us’, and ejo n'ejo bundi means ‘yesterday, today, tomorrow and the day after tomorrow’.

26 On his website, International Institute of Political Murder, Milo Rau presents his theoretical–representational artistic research: Milo Rau, ‘Reenactment: Probing a Theatrical Concept’, at http://international-institute.de/en/4350-2, accessed 2 July 2019.

27 Priscilla Wind, ‘L'art du reenactment chez Milo Rau’, Intermédialités, 28–9 (2017).

28 For example, when Milo Rau came to Rwanda to present Hate Radio, he had the curious idea of broadcasting it on the radio. Doing so not only reactivated trauma but also prompted panic among the audience that the genocide was about to restart. Interview with Assumpta Mugiraneza, IRIBA Center, Kigali, March 2018.

29 La Benevolencija, at www.labenevolencija.org/la-benevolencija/organisation, accessed 4 May 2020.

30 See Gaëlle Obiégly, ‘Une radio contre la fabrique des bourreaux’, Libération, 23 March, 2016, at www.liberation.fr/planete/2016/03/23/une-radio-contre-la-fabrique-des-bourreaux_1441581, accessed 2 July 2019.

31 Message 1: when the need for safety is frustrated, people turn to their identity groups to strengthen their feeling of safety. Message 2: when people feel unsafe, they turn to their identity groups and tend to point out the other group as the problem (scapegoat). Message 3: people who intervene to prevent or stop others’ mistreatment (active bystanders) give a good example of benevolence and help build a peaceful society. Message 4: treating everyone with equal consideration (humanization) makes violence less likely to arise. Message 5: free exchange between citizens about specific problems encourages diversity of opinions (pluralism) and helps prevent violence. Source: these messages are displayed in La Benevolencija Bukavu office in eastern DRC.

32 Ervin Staub, Overcoming Evil: Genocide, Violent Conflict and Terrorism (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2011).

33 Email correspondence with Johan Deflander, coordinator of La Benevolencija Amsterdam in January 2018. The La Benevolencia handbook that he kindly gave me goes into more detail. ‘One of the central methods used by LB is Entertainment–Education (E & E) informed primarily by the work of Esta de Fossard (1996; 1998). E & E is based on the idea that entertainment media formats such as television or radio drama can be used to “package” educational content to positively impact audiences’ Knowledge, Attitude and eventually Practice (KAP)’. Media Projects to Empower Populations to Resist Incitement to Mass Atrocity and Stimulate Active Bystandership: A Handbook (n.p., n.d.).

34 Loffe Chirali Badésiré, Maladie mystérieuse (Paris: Les Phonuscrits des radiophonies, 2009).

35 Yole!Africa's motto is ‘The art of empowering youth’. See https://yoleafrica.org/about-us, accessed 4 May 2020.

36 As named in the application to the 2019 Call for DigiTales.

37 DigiTales across Borders, at https://fr-fr.facebook.com/DigiTalesacross, accessed 1 April 2020.

38 Eric1key, ‘Retour à la terre natale, en force’, at www.eric1key.blog/2018/06/23/retour-a-la-terre-natale-en-force, 23 June 2018, accessed 2 July 2019.

39 Ibid. The book by Blaise Cendrars referred to is Petits contes nègres pour les enfants des Blancs (Paris: Au Sans Pareil, 1929). This children's book has been re-edited several times since its first publication: Paris: Albin Michel/Bibliothèque Nationale de France, 2009, and Paris: Gallimard jeunesse, 1978, 1998, 2018; the latest sparking the outrage of French decolonial associations. See www.actualitte.com/article/monde-edition/blaise-cendrars-accuse-de-negrophobie-pour-ses-petits-contes-negres/88653, accessed 4 May 2020.

40 ‘If I had not know in which country I lived, I could have asked, “And the Rwandan government then?” But we all know he does not care about art and culture. It does not pay anything. Or that's not the priority. Gorillas first and always … The dilemma: engage in the worst conditions or refuse. I take the risk. I'm in. If I do not do it, who will do it? The Ministry of Culture doesn't give a damn! The staff must be in a posh restaurant busy with their belly while the colonizers are in the race for the occupation of the space that remains.’ Eric1key, translations my own.

41 ‘I cannot stand it any more. I leave the room. I am upset. I smoke cannabis. Oh yes, it calms the brains. I refuse to lose my head. I refuse the assholes the power to drive me crazy. My head is all I have. That's all I am.’ Eric1key, translations my own.

42 ‘When I think about it, the genocide and post-genocide consequences affected me in a way I was never able to deal with.’ Eric1key, translations my own. For a description of trauma and PTSD in Rwanda see Darius Gishoma and Jean-Luc Brackelaire, ‘Quand le corps abrite l'inconcevable: Comment dire le bouleversement dont témoignent les corps au Rwanda?’, Cahiers de psychologie clinique, 1, 30 (2008), pp. 159–83.

43 Mimesis here refers to Erich Auerbach's sense of narrative, especially Western literature as the most accomplished form of mimesis. In a joint interview, art sociologist Nathalie Heinich and Jean-Marie Schaeffer exchange their views about art, creation and fiction. Heinich first proposes the distinction between fiction and narrative: ‘Nous avons beaucoup insisté, l'un et l'autre, sur la spécificité du fictionnel, en tant qu'il croise la narration et l'imaginaire’ (‘Both of us have stressed the specificity of the fictional, as crossing the narrative and the imaginary’). Expanding on Nathalie Heinich's distinctions, Jean-Marie Schaeffer adds, ‘Ce qui me paraît le plus dommageable c'est la confusion récurrente entre fiction et récit: raconter est une des formes canoniques des constructions discursives à prétention factuelle’ (‘What I think most prejudicial is the frequent confusion between fiction and narrative: storytelling is one of the canonical forms of discursive constructions pretending to be factual’). Jean-Marie Schaeffer and Nathalie Heinich, ‘Art, création et fiction: Entre sociologie et philosophie’, interview with Annick Louis and Alexandre Prstojevic’, Vox Poetica, at www.vox-poetica.org/entretiens/intSchaefferHeinich.html, 19 March 2005, accessed 2 July 2019.

44 Ibid.

45 The DigiTales project was more focused on narrative forms.

46 For a description of Lecomte's work in Africa's Great Lakes see Lecomte, Frédérique, Théâtre & Réconciliation: Méthode pour une pratique théâtrale dans les zones de conflit (Brussels: La Lettre volée, Essais, 2015)Google Scholar; and Lay, Maëline Le, ‘Humanitarian Theatre in the Great Lakes Region: In Pursuit of Performativity’, in Ndaliko, Chérie Rivers and Anderson, Samuel Mark, eds., The Art of Emergency: Aesthetics and Aid in African Crises (New York: Oxford University Press, 2020), pp. 229–48CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

47 Interview with Baudouin at La Benevolencija Bukavu, 23 February 2018.

48 Ibid., and interview with Nestor Nkurunziza, La Benevolencija Bujumbura, 2 February 2018.

49 Sarr, Felwine, Afrotopia (Paris: Philippe Rey, 2016), p. 133Google Scholar.

50 Vianney Bisimwa, ‘Amani Festival fait-il du business au nom de la paix?’, an interview with Henry Mubimbi, Nyiragongo Ngoma Productions, 13 February 2020, at www.youtube.com/watch?v=cQaehChqyv4.

51 Sarr, Afrotopia, pp. 17–28.