It is time for solidarity 지금은 연대가 필요한 때 입니다. By Bebê de Soares, Vice President of ASSITEJ 베베 데 수아레스, 아시테지 세계본부 부회장
The past year exposed the instability of artists globally, and as time went by, we observed that some countries created tools and dispersed resources to help TYA artists who were forbidden or denied work for over a year. This was urgent and we can only be grateful for that. It is important though, not to lose from our sight the dramatic condition of artists in the Global South, and the emergency situation they are exposed to.
In a way, the distribution of vaccines mirrors the imbalance in the international arts sector – rich countries use their resources to attend to their population first, although often a higher pandemic toll is paid on the other side of the planet. Who will be vaccinated depends on the wealth of the country we live in. Global immunisation figures have been mirroring a great inequality for months now, and the situation remains unchanged.
But the pandemic will only be over, when it is over everywhere in the world.
We have discussed for some time now the paradox of institutional support for travel (mobility funds). On one hand, it is a fantastic tool for artists to effectively build an international career, and most festivals would not be able to present an international program without financial aid for travel. On the other hand, we must recognise that we will never achieve the diversity we promise to work for, if we do not share these same mobility funds so they are accessible to all.
While we are looking for the new normal, trying to reshape the future after this collective trauma, it is important to talk honestly and be open to new ideas. Currently, initiatives towards greater international solidarity are surging. Some examples give me great hope. For instance, the RESHAPE NETWORK - a collaborative, bottom-up research process that proposes instruments for transition towards an alternative, fairer, and unified arts ecosystem across Europe and the Southern Mediterranean. One of the ideas is the proposal of a Solidarity Tax by Doreen Toutikian, a provocative idea on power dynamics in cultural projects, creative control, diversity, and eligibility.
The Festival THEATER DER WELT, brings to life an EQUITY FORUM FOR INTERNATIONAL COOPERATIONS. International guests from the Global South will join to discuss Equity, Sustainability and Fair Cooperation. Among other questions; how can artistic, human and financial resources be further shared, especially in pandemic times?
Within Europe there is also PERFORM EUROPE, an EU-funded project which aims to rethink cross-border performing arts presentation in a more inclusive, sustainable and balanced way. This is a reaction to an imbalance of representation among the Creative Europe funded touring model.
If we can recognise our economic privilege, the next step will be a natural one. The consideration of ethics will take us to a future of solidarity, sharing resources, paving the way, making plans with optimism for fairer international collaborations.
It is nothing short of a revolution, and we can only profit from that.
작년은 전세계 예술가들의 불안정성을 드러내는 한 해였고, 시간이 지남에 따라 우리는 몇몇 국가들은 거의 일년이 넘는 시간 동안 일을 할 수 없었던 TYA예술가들을 돕기 위해 도구를 만들어내고 자원들을 확산시키는 것을 목격할 수 있었습니다. 이것들은 긴급했고 우리는 그저 감사해야 할 뿐이었습니다. 하지만 남반구(Global South)에 있는 예술가들이 겪는 급변하는 조건과 그들이 처한 긴급한 상황을 잊지 않는 것이 중요합니다.
어떤 면에서는, 백신의 보급이 국제 예술 분야 내의 불균형을 잘 보여준다고 할 수 있습니다. 부유한 국가는 그들의 인구를 지키기 위해 자원들을 사용하지만, 지구 반대편에서는 팬데믹으로 인한 사상자가 더 많은 편입니다. 누가 백신을 먼저 맞느냐는 그 나라의 경제적 부유함에 달렸다고 할 수 있습니다. 전세계적 면역 (Global immunization) 수치는 수개월 동안 극대화된 불균형 상태를 가장 잘 반영하며, 이 상황은 변화되지 않은 상태로 계속 유지되고 있습니다.
팬데믹이 끝나는 순간은 오직 전세계 어디에서나 팬데믹 상황이 종식된 때입니다.
우리는 여행을 위한(이동을 위한 지원금) 기관의 지원의 역설적인 부분에 대해서 가끔 얘기합니다. 한편으로는, 이는 효과적으로 국제적 커리어를 쌓기 위한 예술가들을 위한 매력적인 도구이며, 많은 축제들이 국가간 이동에 대해 경제적 지원을 받지 않고는 국제 프로그램을 진행하지 못하고 있습니다. 다른 한편으로 우리가 모든 이들이 접근할 수 있게 이와 같은 이동을 위한 지원금을 공유하지 않는 다면, 우리가 약속한 다양성(diversity)를 절대 성취할 수 없다는 사실을 반드시 알아야 합니다.
뉴 노멀에 대해서 알아보며 집단적인 트라우마를 겪고 난 후의 미래에 대해서 다시 생각해 보게 되었고, 따라서 솔직하게 얘기하는 것과 새로운 아이디어에 대해서 열려있는 마음을 가지는 것이 중요합니다. 현재는 더 나은 국제적 연대를 위한 계획이 많아지고 있습니다. 어떤 예시들은 저에게 큰 희망을 주기도 합니다. 예를 들어, RESHAPE NETWORK 에서는 협력적이며 대안적인, 더 공평한, 또 유럽과 남부 지중해 전반에 걸쳐서 통일된 예술 생태계의 변화를 위해 수단을 제안하는 바텀 업(bottom-up) 연구 과정을 진행하고 있습니다. 여러 아이디어 중 하나는 Doreen Toutikian의 연대세(Solidarity Tax)인데, 문화적 프로젝트, 창의적 통제, 다양성, 그리고 적격성안의 권력 관계(power dynamic)에 대한 도발적인 아이디어라고 할 수 있습니다.
축제 THEATER DER WELT는 일상에 국제 협력을 위한 공평성에 대한 포럼을 진행했습니다. 남반구에서 온 국제 게스트는 공평성, 지속가능성, 그리고 공정한 협력에 대해서 얘기하는 것을 즐길 것입니다. 이외에 다른 질문은 ‘특히 팬데믹 기간에 어떻게 예술적, 인간적, 경제적 자원들이 더 많은 곳으로 공유될 수 있는가?’ 입니다.
유럽 내부에서는 PERFORM EUROPE 이라는 프로젝트로, EU 회원국들을 경제적으로 지원하며 좀 더 표용적이고, 지속가능하며, 균형적인 방법으로 국경을 넘나들며 공연예술에 대해 재고하는 것을 목표로 합니다. 이는 Creative Europe을 통해 지원받은 투어 모델 간 대표성의 불균형에 대한 반응입니다.
만약 우리가 갖고 있는 경제적 특권에 대해 인식할 수 있다면, 다음 단계는 자연스러운 단계가 될 것 입니다. 윤리에 대한 고려는 우리를 연대, 자원 공유, 환경 조성, 그리고 공정한 국제적 협력을 위한 낙관적인 계획을 세우는 미래로 인도할 것 입니다.
It is with great sadness that we learnt of the death of David Holman, one of the great champions of Theatre for Young People and a brilliant playwright. His intelligent, compassionate and brave plays shaped the UK scene from the 1970’s onwards. He then moved to Australia for some years, and is a much-loved dramatist there also.
Following the Founding Assembly of ASSITEJ Cyprus back in March, one of the first decisions of the newly elected board was to form a series of committees and working groups to deal with particular topics.
A new network of ASSITEJ Centres in small countries has been formed. The network comprises ASSITEJ International members (national centres or individual members) from countries with a population under one million.
20 mil. DDK per year in additional support – expanding access to the performing arts in Denmark
The Danish Finance Act of 2021 includes an extension of the Danish reimbursement system to include high schools, private schools, kindergartens and nurseries. This extension is financed with 20 mil. Danish crowns per year (2.7 mil. Euros) for four years.
On the 1st of June celebrating International Children’s day, ASSITEJ Lithuania initiated a national campaign “Back to the live theatre!” seeking to open possibilities for children and youth to experience live theatre again after a long time of separation by screens.
On May 31, 2021 the online conference “Ukraine ASSITEJ – a Platform for Cooperation” was held, which was dedicated to the launch of the Ukrainian National Centre of the Association of Theatre for Children and Youth, forming a community of professionals interested in the development of the field.
UMBRELLA Networking for ASSITEJ Centres & Networks
The Executive Committee of ASSITEJ invites to an informal meeting for people actively engaged in the running or creation of National Centres and ASSITEJ Networks. This initiative was started during the 20th ASSITEJ World Congress and will now continue under the title “UMBRELLAnetworking”.
ATINA launches the call for Argentinian and Ibero American Directors to participate in the Directors Workshop, 2nd step of the SCHOOLYARD STORIES PROJECT- 3rd edition
For World Refugee Week 2021, Good Chance Theatre calls on all artists and creatives worldwide to join a social media movement to welcome Little Amal, a 3.5 metre puppet of a 9-year-old girl who will walk from the Syrian border to the UK in search of her mother.
Theatres that would like to submit productions to this year's edition of the International Online Theatre Festival for Young People “Better than Us” are welcome to apply!
Join the first public discussion hosted by the newly formed network of small ASSITEJ countries, with speakers from Liechtenstein, Iceland, San Marino, Luxemburg, Malta and Cyprus.
🌎🌍🌏 Online through Zoom 🗓 28 September 2021, 19:00 CET
SEGNI Festival this year spreads over several seasons: a more rarefied moment of encounter than usual, but full of content and contacts both online and in presence from Summer to Autumn.
The purpose of this shared playwriting experience was to connect all In the Works 2020 playwrights together along with their dramaturges-mentors, by developing collectively a unique fiction world to be read publicly online during MASIDLALE- Drama For Life Conference 2020 and, later on, staged for young audiences. Taking turns, each playwright has added his/her episode to the common script, in a linear way, as in a TV series, keeping their genuine way of playwriting, taking advantage of the element of surprise.
