Sifiso Mabena
“Using autobiography (real and imagined) and family histories, I make solo and ensemble projects that address notions of home, belonging and identity. Having spent my childhood in the Southern African region and briefly in the U.K., and as one of the estimated 2 million Zimbabweans living outside of Zimbabwe, my work investigates diasporic identities and the act of holding several identities at once. At times I have felt torn between the various cultures I’ve lived in and consequently my artistic explorations address the complexity of holding both Western and African values and the complex negotiations it necessitates. As a result, my work looks like the process of blending; I create theatrical pastiches and collages that sometimes include historical elements, current affairs, anecdote, puppetry, song, and video.
My interest is not simply to share a narrative rendering of my experience as an immigrant; instead I’m excited about crafting puppetry performance that creates live contexts for discourse around the challenges of contouring and discussing a modern African diaspora. In this residency I’m developing my new work [sunflower], which continues my exploration of the intricacies of holding multiple cultural identities. For me, this liminal ambiguity presents a unique opportunity for the emergence of new things, as well as the uncovering of unseen things. It is for this reason that my initial ventures working on [sunflower] have led me to Afro-Surrealism, which deals with the ‘right now’ and the black experience in a way that feels relevant to my current personal and artistic pursuits.”
Sifiso Mabena (she/her/hers) is a multidisciplinary theatre artist who works as an actor, teacher, puppeteer, writer, and singer. Her original puppet theatre works include Mashup Dreams For Nostalgics and Phenomenal Woman (#blackgirlmagic), both performed in Puppet BloK at Dixon Place. Sifiso puppeteered in Dan Hurlin’s Bismarck, Lake Simon’s Carnival of the Animals, Andrew Murdock and Marcella Murray’s Shoot, Don’t Talk at St. Ann’s Puppet Lab, and Riddle of the Trilobites at the New Victory Theatre. Acting highlights: Red Hills (En Garde Arts), Art of Luv Part 6 (Abrons), and Molly’s Dream (The Public: Fornes Marathon). As a playwright, Sifiso has collaborated with The Royal Court Theatre and the British Council (ZW). Her work has been performed at Harare International Festival of the Arts (Winner of HIFADirect 2011), Intwasa Festival, and Chimanimani Festival. More recently she co-directed The Othello Project for Shake on the Lake. Sifiso holds an MFA in Theatre from Sarah Lawrence College, and is a CUNY Adjunct Professor in Theatre and a Guest Teaching Artist at Sarah Lawrence.
Find out more about Sifiso by going to www.fisopearlmabena.com/ or check her out on social media below.