TAKA TAKA PARADE
A creative performance project developed as part of the AMDA ( Africa Mashariki Dance Biennial) , Taka Taka Parade brought together Congolese visual artist and performance maker Eddy Ekete with Tanzanian performers and creatives for a week-long creative process in Dar es Salaam.
Inspired by the urgent need to communicate environmental messages and promote Kutunza Mazingira (caring for the environment), the project explored how recycled materials, movement, performance, and public participation can transform environmental awareness into a shared cultural experience.
The creative process culminated in a street parade through Dar es Salaam, featuring costumes created from recycled materials and postcards carrying environmental messages, distributed and carried by volunteers. Through performance in public spaces, the project engaged directly with communities while demonstrating the possibilities of reuse-driven artistic creation.
About the Project
Taka Taka Parade was created and performed by Eddy Ekete in collaboration with a team of Tanzanian performers and creatives. The project combined dance, visual art, recycled costume design, poetry, music, and street performance to create an accessible and engaging environmental message.
Eddy Ekete is a performance artist and dancer from the Democratic Republic of Congo. He trained at the Kinshasa Academy of Fine Arts and the Strasbourg Higher School of Decorative Arts. His practice brings together performance, visual art, movement, and unconventional materials, including his well-known Homme Cannette costume made entirely from metal cans.
The project took place across Africraft, Nafasi Art Space, Muda Africa, and the streets of Dar es Salaam, culminating in a public performance that connected artistic expression with environmental awareness and community participation.
“When we slow down enough to listen, the body reveals its wisdom and the mind begins to quiet.”HARRY WUKO
Created & Performed: Eddy Ekete
In collaboration with performers: Fridah Antony, Sylvester Ashery, Merry Gerson, Careen Mohamed, Ikram Mumba, Matthieu Nieto, Fredrick Sanga, Lazaro Samwel, Irene Themistocles, Stamilu Chaligha
Direction: Everbright Everready
Director of Photography: Joe-Francis Kiaga
Assistant Camera: Godwin Mkandala
Editor: Sultan Tarimo
Executive Producer: Matthieu Nieto
Production Administrator: Mwinyimkuu Simba
Production Assistant: Arafa Ally
Set Production Assistant: Anitha Msala
Music Composer: Alvin Emil “Alkeys”
Poem: Mary Kakesa
Voice Over: Joe-Francis Kiaga
Parade Volunteers: Dorcas Tumsifu, Sabrina Salum, Jeriv Craft, Ibrahim Ally, Aminata Gabriel, Frank Steven, Ramadhani Shaban, John Chito
Parade Security: Mzaira Bodyguard
Production: Wondarland Limited & Mouvements Migrateurs
With the support of: FEF Création Africa, Ambassade de France in Tanzania, Alliance Française of Dar es Salaam, Nafasi Art Space, AMDA – Africa Mashariki Dance Biennial, Muda Africa, Africraft
Location: Dar es Salaam, Tanzania