Faustin Linyekula

DRC; dancer and community leader

Dancer, choreographer, director and storyteller as he defines himself, Faustin Linyekula lives in Kisangani, Democratic Republic of Congo.

He is the founder of the Studios Kabako (2001), a space dedicated to dance, visual theatre, music and film, providing training programmes, supporting research and creation and fostering Congolese artists to tell their own stories.

In Kisangani, Studios Kabako are also working with communities of the Lubunga district around environmental and sustainability issues as well as education. Or how to speak to a city from its most fragile part?

Linyekula’s pieces are touring worldwide. In 2007, he received the Principal Award of the Prince Claus Fund for Culture and Development and in 2014, the first Prize of the CurryStone Foundation for the work developed with young artists and communities in Kisangani. In 2016, he was associate artist to the city of Lisbon and in 2019 to the Holland Festival. In 2018, he was awarded the first Soros Arts Fellowship.