Taiwo Afolabi

Director of the Centre for Socially Engaged Theatre (C-SET)

Associate Professor

Contact Info

Area of Focus: applied theatre and policing, Social Justice, Decolonization, Art Leadership and Management, Migration, The Ethics of Arts-based Research

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Research Interests

Socially Engaged/Applied theatre
Community engagement
Performance
Policing
Research ethics
Arts leadership
Cultural policy
Sustainability in the performing arts
Decolonization
Dramaturgy

Dr. Taiwo Afolabi is an interdisciplinary artistic scholar from Africa with internationally recognized expertise in research-based theatre focusing on social justice, human rights, and anti-racism education among Indigenous, immigrant, and marginalized communities. Through global theatre projects/publications, his practice-based research encompasses issues of policing, sexual health education, Sustainable Development Goals, African theatre, homelessness, immigration, and language revitalization. He is the Director of the Centre for Socially Engaged Theatre (C-SET) and is the Canada Research Chair in Socially Engaged Theatre (Tier II).

Further, as a theatre manager, and entrepreneur, Dr. Afolabi’s interest is in amplifying voices and experiences; and re-centering governance models, strategies and systems on the margin through the lens of decolonization, equity and anti-oppressive approaches. His experience in over a dozen countries across four continents in a variety of contexts focused on socially engaged and community-based creative practice for transformational change. Through storytelling and devised theatre, he works with communities on social issues pertinent to them, and his research continues to advance broad-minded thinking within the art and culture sector. Dr. Afolabi has co-edited three books and published articles in various books and reputable journals. He is a Senior Research Associate at the University of Johannesburg in South Africa and the founding director of Theatre Emissary International (TEMi) in Nigeria and Canada. Dr. Afolabi is the Vice-President of the Canadian Association for Theatre Research (CATR)