Quito Abrao Tembe

Quito Abrao Tembe

Initiator of Kinani Festival
As a multiethnic country with a large immigrant population located in the southeast of the African continent, Mozambique has a rich culture of ethnic dance. In the 15 years of socialist reform and governance following the country’s independence for Portugal in 1975, the performing arts were promoted as a means to build national spirit and awareness, and since the nation’s democratization around 1990, a dynamic new wave of creators has emerged. In 2005, the international Kinani Contemporary Dance Festival was launched in the capital of Maputo. Kinani aims to promote contemporary dance and nurture young choreographers, and it uses as venues not only the theaters in the city but also buildings deserted in the middle of construction and ruins.