There are only a few days left before the opening of the ASSITEJ 19th World Congress and Cradle of Creativity Festival in Cape Town, South Africa, ASSITEJ’s crowning event that takes place every three years. After a long period of negotiations, planning, deliberations, preparations and a global workload! We have arrived, yes, we have arrived!! We are all very excited and thankful.
The emotion comes from the surprises we will have, since over and above the good planning and organization, things will really happen when we meet: at the time of the exchanges, the dialogs, the unique experience of seeing, hearing and being with people from all over the world with whom we share a common interest: a better theatre for children and young people, a high-quality theatre that really makes an impact on people’s lives.
What a difficult art theatre is, it involves so many disciplines, so many ideas, so many skills, so much creativity, so many objectives, so many missions, so much chance, so much surprise, so much organization and so much cooperation.
In the coming days we will have the opportunity to speak, analyse, see and listen to colleagues from very different points of the planet with realities and cultures very different from ours. We must open our eyes wide and exercise to the maximum our capacity to listen and our capacity to understand.
What a magnificent and unique opportunity ASSITEJ is offering us.
What is cultural exchange if not the emotion of seeing ourselves reflected in the eyes of another?
Today this 19th Congress and “Cradle of Creativity” Festival is a reality and we cannot but thank ASSITEJ South Africa and thank each other for having made it possible.
It is an enormous privilege to be part of this event put together with the will, the intelligence, the work and the love of all and of so many.
THANK YOU
