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A New Year Resolution Seok-hong Kim, Vice President of ASSITEJ International
In the middle of November 2022, we (the ASSITEJ EC) traveled to Jordan to have an Executive Committee Meeting and participate in a regional workshop of the Babel project. It was the very first EC Meeting in recent years to be held in the Middle East, and personally this was also my first visit to that part of the world. During our time there, we met many established and emerging TYA artists and practitioners in the region, and realised that there are a lot of hardworking TYA artists and ardent advocates for the arts in schools, in spite of relatively difficult circumstances like the lack of public funding. We were all deeply impressed by their confidence in their cultural traditions and their positive and active ways of tackling their situations.
There may be a lot of artists and practitioners all over the world who are full of eagerness for TYA, but are invisible on an international level. I experienced the same thing when I visited Uzbekistan for the ASSITEJ Asia meeting in 2019 and encountered artists from Central Asian countries. I think it might also be similar in Africa, Central and South America, and Southeast and South Asia. There may be different cultures and point of views, but plenty of unknown thrilling stories and vast intangible resources for the arts.
One of our current missions is that we should shed a strong light on these artists and practitioners and connect them to the global community and vice versa. I believe this would benefit both sides and eventually enrich the arts and TYA of the world.
I also personally hope to focus more on these regions this coming year and have asked the organisers of the ASSITEJ Korea Summer Festival to host as many productions from these regions as possible. I am already excited to meet African artists in South Africa at an EC meeting in August this year.
Call for Submissions of the ASSITEJ Online Magazine
ASSITEJ Online Magazine 2023
The ASSITEJ Artistic Gathering 2023 will be in Serbia from 20-24 November 2023 with the theme of Connecting Voices which is the second theme in our overarching dramaturgy of Regenerating.
The magazine articles will be published in English and the original language of the author. We will create a magazine that communicates through images, films and text. Both visuals and text should address the theme, Regenerating: Connecting Voices. We are aiming to regularly update this online Magazine with new articles, from June 2023 until the opening of the Artistic Gathering in November 2023.
ASSITEJ Artistic Gathering 2023 "Turning Point" is calling for:
Productions/Performances- From the region of Southeastern Europe, as well as some Central European Countries. Only companies based in, or collaborating with artists from, these countries may apply.
Professional Exchange Programme- Sessions including workshops, seminars, lectures, roundtables, meetings, networking sessions, film screenings, exhibitions, social events, and other formats related to performing arts for young audiences (sessions may be presented 'On The Ground', 'Online', or 'Hybrid'). This section is open to applicants from all countries.
This meeting aims to give us the opportunity to hear success stories that were the actual results of networking experiences, whether on a personal or institutional level.
We will also go through a quick networking experiment together under the title "Tandem". Through this experience, we will try to build a new network between two or more institutions that may, between them, develop a new success story, a new exchange, or a common goal or passion.
Led by one of the leading researchers in the field, this 3-year project will engage with existing external partnerships (both local and international) to: a) generate evidence to develop, test and refine frameworks for understanding the value of TYA; and, b) close the gaps in the evidence for this value.
It will be aligned with a current set of work being conducted by ASSITEJ International through funding from Creative Europe. Applicants are invited to define the specific focus and scope in their proposal responding to this call. It is envisaged that within an overall mixed methods design, a case study approach (however developed) would provide for analytical depth while allowing for generalisable findings, though this may be revised in dialogue between the supervisor and the successful applicant.
Palestine International Theater Festival for Children and Youth
Al-Harah Theater
Al-Harah Theater opens the call to theater groups and companies to participate in the 5th edition of Palestine International Theater Festival for Children and Youth that will be held between the 13th and the 20th of October 2023 in Palestine.
Local and International theater groups are invited to apply by filling the application online herebefore the 28th of February 2023.
We are looking for projects, in any creative form, that have a great potential to engage children and young audiences (ages 0 to 16) across different platforms including live performances as well as digital experiences.
Call for Applications for participation in the 29th Festival of Ecological Theatre for Children and Youth
ASSITEJ Serbia
The Festival of Ecological Theatre for Children and Youth is open for applications for performances that will be part of our 29th Festival, which will take place from 24th to 27th August 2023 in Bačka Palanka under the slogan “On the cliff”.
We invite all professional theatres for children and youth to send their applications and participate in the 29th Festival.
ASSITEJ Ukraine expresses its sincere gratitude for the solidarity and support of many initiatives of Ukrainian artists in 2022. The participation of representatives of the Ukrainian theater for children in festivals, the work of emergency projects for children evacuated from different regions, became possible thanks to the support of ASSITEJ International. We send our great regards to the artists of Sweden, Germany, Lithuania, Poland, Great Britain, Estonia, Cyprus, and Japan, who warmed us with friendly and effective support.
Apply to become a sponsored delegate at Aprilfestival 2023
ASSITEJ Denmark
Attend the world's biggest performing arts festival for young audiences.
Choose between 170 different productions in 3 days!
Get the chance to meet colleagues from all over the world – Aprilfestival is an international hub welcoming around 100 international guests every year.
Safe Place festival for relaxed performances will take place on April 9-11th 2023 and will be international for the first time. The festival will take place in Jaffa, Israel.
The program is yet to be published but we are opening the festival to international guests .
We offer an immersive experience for any guest and more than only a professional exchange. We are offering a platform of sharing knowledge and a chance to really see and feel how this kind of a festival works. A festival of relaxed performances and inclusive work for young audiences.
🌎🌍🌏 Jaffa, Israel
🗓 9 - 11 April 2023
Blooming & Sailing Incubation Programme of Theatre and Performing Arts for Young Audiences
ASSITEJ China
China National Theatre for Children held 1st Blooming & Sailing Incubation Programme of Theatre and Performing Arts for Young Audiences. 120 directors or scriptwriters from all over China proposed 88 ideas with different subjects and styles, 12 of them were selected.
In 2022, 31 productions from ASSITEJ China and 12 productions from Blooming & Sailing Incubation Programme had 231 public performances all over China benefitting more than 70 thousand audiences.
Here are the first announced dates for Theatre for Young Audiences festivals in Germany:
Starke Stücke – International Theatre festival: March 2nd-13th, 2023 in the Rhine-Main region
KUSS – Hessian TYA Festival: March 19th-25th, 2023 in Marburg
Augenblick mal! – national biennial of TYA in Germany: April 21th-26th, 2023 in Berlin
WESTWIND – TYA in North Rhine-Westphalia: June 11-17th, 2023 in Bonn
Südwind – 2. Bavarian TYA Festival: July 05th-11th, 2023 in Munich
AUGENBLICK MAL! 2023 The Festival of Theatre for Young Audiences in Germany
AUGENBLICK MAL!
The national biennial of theatre for young audiences in Germany will take place in Berlin, April 21-26th 2023. The festival will present five outstanding productions for children and young people from Germany and a supporting programme with numerous discourse and discussion formats that invite people to discuss current issues in and around theatre for young audiences.
The festival programme with information on all productions can be found here. The English version will be published soon.
Tickets for professional visitors can be ordered from 30.01.2023 via an order form.
🌎🌍🌏 Berlin, Germany
🗓 21 -26 April 2023
SMALL SIZE DAYS 2023
Small Size
Small Size Days return for a ninth edition filled with activities to celebrate arts and Early Years. Taking place in 2023 from January 27th to 29th, this year the event returns to a large in person offer of performances, workshops, and other activities for children from 0 to 6.
With 100 Small size members in 37 countries, from Argentina to Slovenia, from Singapore to Turkey, Small Size Days bring the very youngest children and their families, carers and stakeholders together to recognise that the arts are significant and valued in our lives, from birth onwards. All activities will be organised and presented simultaneously, thus creating a huge, shared, and unique World Event for youngest children.
New Movie: PERSPEKTIV:WECHSEL – More Diversity. More Inclusion. More Theatre for Young Audiences.
ASSITEJ Germany
ASSITEJ Germany published a cinematic recommendation on how theatres for young audiences can become more inclusive. It provides food for thought as well as practical approaches to designing ones own work in a diversity-sensitive manner. The film focuses on the topics participation, ableism, adultism and gender and can be seen here in German for free.
ASSITEJ Artistic Gathering 2023
Towards AAG 2023: Turning Point
The ASSITEJ Artistic Gathering 2023 will be held in Serbia in November. As we approach this important event, articles shedding light on Serbian performing arts will be shared in this section of our newsletter.
The Performing Arts in Serbia
IETM & Bitef
IETM International network for contemporary performing arts Plenary Meeting ‘WORK HARD, LIVE HARDER!’ was held from 29th of September to the 1st of October in Belgrade (Serbia) 2022, and organized within the frame of the 56th Bitef festival. The meeting explored different aspects related to work and labor in the #PerformingArts sector, such as disability in the arts, feminist leadership, safe working environments, how to tackle burn outs, as well as the topic on Environment.
