ASSITEJ 2008 Congress Diary
Tony Mack, International Relations Director at the ASSITEJ 2008 Congress, takes Lowdown readers behind the scenes to look at the latest Congress developments.
So far this year…
It’s only ten months until the opening of the 16th ASSITEJ World Congress and Performing Arts Festival in Adelaide. As you’d expect, things are starting to hot up. After intensive travel last year to see work and consult worldwide, Congress staff are staying closer to home as they work through all the ideas and incorporate them into Congress activities.
Well yes, I suppose Congress Director Jason Cross has travelled to Malaysia (April) and the Asian Children’s Theatre Festival in Korea (July). I’ve reported on Congress progress to the ASSITEJ Executive Committee in Zambia (May) and promoted the Congress and Australian theatre for young people at the Tokyo Performing Arts Market (March) and the Asian Arts Mart (May/June). And there’s been travel within Australia…
But, believe it or not, that’s actually a slowing down on the frenetic pace of the second half of last year!
2007 Australian Festivals and Events Summit
Catch up with Executive Producer Jessica Machin and Jason in Sydney during the 2007 Australian Festivals and Events Summit, which runs from August 29-31. They will be taking part in a session on Children’s and Youth Programming. For Jessica, it’s part of a worldwide trend that recognises youth arts as a ‘mainstream’ priority:
‘The Festivals and Events Association (FEA) provides its members with direct access to the latest national and international views, trends and information around the globe. So it’s great to see the recognition within the 2007 Australian Festivals and Events Summit that programming for children and young people is a growing priority, both here and overseas.’
Programming
With the formal Expressions of Interest submitted and ideas from so many practitioners and companies around the world, now is the time when key decisions are being made. Negotiations are taking place and invitations sent out as the pieces of the artistic program start to fall into place. Congress Director Jason Cross reflects on this stage of the process:
‘I am very involved with the day to day details of creating the festival – from how much we can afford to pay companies to the logistics related to production needs... Right now we are working through the challenges of putting the festival together...the ideas and its shape are established, not unlike a third draft script. However, at this stage, entrepreneurial creativity is as important as artistic creativity...’
That’s not to say that the broader artistic discussions have ceased. In fact, important long-term relationships are being forged:
As an Artistic Director my role is to be open and accessible to ideas and people (known and unknown). It is impossible for an AD to be highly intimate with every artist participating in your festival. However, I think a level of friendship and knowledge of the participating artists is very valuable to the shared experiences (for you and me) and the legacy it creates for the festival. One of the reasons we work in performing arts is to engage with other people and, importantly, other artists.
Next Generation
One Congress project close to my heart is the Next Generation program. Put simply, it is a ten-day leadership program we’re creating for up to 25 people from around the world and Australia who we have identified as the next generation of leaders in theatre for children and young people.
At present it looks like we’ll have about 17 countries represented as well as about seven Australian participants. They’ll do workshops, take part in some of the Congress events, run a couple of forums, report to the General Assembly (the United Nations-type gathering of youth arts at the Congress), see lots of shows, do some sightseeing, and talk, argue and hopefully make plans to change the (theatre) world. At the end of the ten days they’ll not only have an amazing set of experiences, they’ll also have an amazing worldwide network of contacts. Congress staff member Ade Suharto and I have been developing Jason’s concept for this, and have been taken aback by the incredible enthusiasm and support internationally so far.
The Coming Months
In future issues Lowdown readers will get the latest info on the Congress program, major events and hosting. We’ll also see if we can give readers an impression of some of the gatherings around the world – the Asian Children’s Theatre Festival in Seoul or the Executive Committee meeting and festival in Bursa, Turkey – that are taking place in the lead-up to the ASSITEJ 2008 Congress.
