Hope Azeda is a playwright, director, and founder of Mashirika Performing Arts Media Company. She is a pioneer in using art as a tool for peacebuilding and a celebrated leader in the Rwandan and African arts sectors. She is the founder of the acclaimed Ubumuntu Arts Festival, which provides a platform for artists from around the world to present performances addressing societal violence and human nature—from police brutality to mass incarceration, to civil war and genocide. She uses art to promote values of humanity and healing, a unique approach that centers storytelling to help communities around the world to deal with their own traumas and to triumph over adversity.
Hope was honoured as a Laureate of the John P. McNulty Prize in 2018, received a Lifetime Award from MAAFA, won the Continental Award for Arts and Culture (2018/19) presented by CEO Global, and was a 2021 Segal Centre honoree for civic engagement in the arts.
Rwanda