From 28th April to 3rd May, the Executive Committee will meet in Montevideo, Uruguay. Six years since its last visit to Latin America (the last EC meeting in the region was in 2013 in Buenos Aires), the EC will cross the ocean to have one of its meetings on this side of the world. The Ibero American centers are happy and full of expectations because, thanks to ASSITEJ support, the Ibero American Network in collaboration with ASSITEJ Uruguay will organize a meeting in Montevideo bringing together representatives of Argentina, Brasil, Cuba, Chile, Ecuador, Spain, Paraguay, Dominican Republic and the EC.
This is an important meeting for the region as it will allow us to communicate in-situ our needs as well as the possibilities we can offer to the world, because of our own and particular characteristics. These face to face meetings will encourage the participants’ development, and through their participation, the creation of networks that in collaboration with the National Centers are powerful promoters of TYA around the world, as we could verify during the Regional Workshops organized in Latin America through ASSITEJ.
On the other side of the world, in the North, ASSITEJ Norway is organizing the next Artistic Gathering that will take place in Kristiansand, September 2 – 7 2019. This is a real example of the importance that ASSITEJ gives to this concept of meeting to exchange experiences, different realities and above all the human size of these encounters amongst theatre professionals coming from different places in the world, with different contexts, but with the strong conviction that we can have the best TYA wherever we live.
One of the obstacles we have in Latin America is the possibility to actively participate in the Artistic Gatherings that ASSITEJ organizes every year. And we are not in a good condition to overcome this obstacle ourselves. The lack of economic possibilities produced by the indifference of our governments, and by the general economic situation of many countries in Latin America, makes it very difficult to get support for travels.
The current ASSITEJ EC is committed to find means of fundraising for ASSITEJ so that it can be economically autonomous to develop the proposals decided by the Assembly during the Congress to achieve the best TYA. This is our aim. We believe that where we organize the Artistic Gatherings, Congresses, and where the General Secretary is located, should not be the result of the economic possibilities of the organizing country, but rather the result of the plural creativity of all the members and of capacities of the individuals who would best serve the association.
So here we are, looking forward to meeting with practitioners from all over the world in our next artistic encounter in Kristiansand, and hoping that many Latin American ones can be among them this time.
Editor’s note: There will be special offers for delegates from countries with low-income, lower-middle-income and upper-middle-income economies, to alleviate some of the participation cost for the Artistic Gathering in Norway.
