🌍 Global
🗓 2 – 7 September 2019
Were you unable to attend the Artistic Gathering in person? Join us wherever you are through our series of archived livestreams, videos and articles! Thanks to a cooperation with HowlRound, Kilden and Dialogue, you will have access to many multimedia impressions. For the first time ever, ASSITEJ livestreamed some sessions during the Gathering. Tune into the livestream here or on our Facebook page!
Discover the schedule here!
Tuesday 3 September
Artistic Encounter
3 a.m. – 3:45 a.m. EDT (New York, UTC-4) / 7:00 – 7:45 UTC+0 / 9:00 – 9:45 CEST (Norway, UTC+2)
Artists – meet your peers from every corner of the world, and hear delegates discussing and sharing ideas about the overall theme of the ASSITEJ Artistic Gathering and how it relates to the performances on display. This livestream will capture the introduction to the first Artistic Encounter of the event and will also broadcast various PechaKucha presentations from delegates.
Imagining the future by using new technologies and new contents in the visual theatre in TYA
5:10 a.m. – 6:10 a.m. EDT (New York, UTC-4) / 9:10 – 1:10 UTC+0 / 11:10 – 12:10 CEST (Norway, UTC+2)
Imagining the future – confronting the present could be the summarizing title of the artistic trail Image Foundry DE MAAN (Mechelen, Belgium) followed the last 5 years dealing with the question: How to regenerate puppet theatre towards a more general visual approach including new media? And how to immerse the audience at a maximum by using technology? This lecture includes a presentation with some theorems and a presentation of some case studies to illustrate the main topic.
Stef De Paepe is director (theatre, animation movies, audio plays), playwright, screenwriter, actor and teacher at the Erasmus Institute Brussel, RITCS (actors, directors and writers). He is the general and artistic director of ‘Image Foundry DE MAAN in Mechelen, a visual theatre production house which he transformed from a puppet theatre to a multimedia art house.
TYA and Migration
7 a.m. – 10 a.m. EDT (New York, UTC-4) 11:00 – 14:00 UTC+0 / 13:00 – 16:00 CEST (Norway, UTC+2)
ASSITEJ in France, Italy and Spain are collaborating on a project focusing on migration and performing arts for children and young people. These are countries that have largely been aware of the growing challenges of the refugee crisis around the Mediterranean, which is a theme that engages the artistic environment strongly. How can performing arts play a role in the integration of traumatized children? Migration and the refugee situation are also a topic that is increasingly being explored artistically not only in the Mediterranean but throughout the world. The symposium aims to present and discuss various artistic practices and experiences, which basically boil down to; how should we meet each other as fellow human beings?
Wednesday 4 September
Projects from around the World
6:30 a.m. – 7:30 a.m. EDT (New York, UTC-4) / 10:30 – 11:30 UTC+0 / 12:30 – 13:30 CEST (Norway, UTC+2)
This is your chance to hear exciting news from your peers at the ASSITEJ Artistic Gathering from all over the world. This is an informal meeting, where anyone in attendance in Kristiansand who has something to present will have a chance to do so.
Safe Place – Theatre festival for children on the autistic spectrum
8:30 a.m. – 9:30 a.m. EDT (New York, UTC-4) / 12:30 – 13:30 UTC+0 / 14:30 – 15:30 CEST (Norway, UTC+2)
We believe that every child deserves access to cultural outlets which expand their thoughts and minds, as well as include them in the larger society. The goal of our initiative is to produce quality performances for children on the autistic spectrum, to enrich their lives with an inspiring and positive experience at the theatre which can draw them in spite of their circumstances. Our plan is to create multisensory productions adapted to the sensory, social and communicative needs of children on the autistic spectrum.
1. Why does the world need relaxed performances?
2. How did we produce a sold-out festival in 3 months?
3. There’s no dream big enough. Thoughts and future goals local and worldwide.
Sharon Gavrielov is an independent creator, actress, and producer, specializing in TYA. Former secretary of the Israeli branch of Assitej. Former artistic director in the “Hanut” theatre (Tel-Aviv). In charge of overall creative direction of the children’s section, balancing artistic innovation and profitability. Current member of “Small Size” organization, co- founder & artistic director of “safe place”-theatre festival and initiative for children on the autistic spectrum.
Thursday 5 September
Walls – An invitation to reflect borders and walls in arts, politics and history
5:10 a.m. – 6:10 a.m. EDT (New York, UTC-4) / 9:10 – 1:10 UTC+0 / 11:10 – 12:10 CEST (Norway, UTC+2)
In 1989 the people of the German Democratic Republic imagined a new and different future. They demonstrated against a political system that suppressed its people and denied them basic human rights. The Berlin wall had been separating East and West Germany for 28 years when it finally came down.
ASSITEJ Germany hosts DIRECTORS IN TYA – An International Exchange every other year since 1976. The idea of an artistic exchange across borders is key to this event. In June 2019 Theater STRAHL invites directors from all over the world to come to Berlin and the theme of walls is the starting point for a collective process: Walls exist everywhere. They create barriers; they are meant to keep people out or in. They stand symbolically for what some people believe is right. Walls exist also in our minds and in our hearts. They can give structure to thoughts, ideas and emotions. Walls stimulate curiosity: What’s beyond this wall? What choices do we have? Which walls are ours to cross and which limits do we challenge? These are children’s questions and artistic questions.
In Kristiansand we would like to start a conversation about historical events, new plays and a changed perspective on heritage and collective memory in diverse societies
Friday 6 September
Alternative dramaturgies for cross cultural productions and productions which represent the so-called “other”
6:30 a.m. – 7:30 a.m. EDT (New York, UTC-4) / 10:30 – 11:30 UTC+0 / 12:30 – 13:30 CEST (Norway, UTC+2)
In this talk, Mariken Lauvstad asks key questions for cross- and intercultural theatre production in our globalized world. How aware are the Western theatre apparatus of its Eurocentric worldview? When Western theatres produce performances portraying or representing minorities, do they unintentionally reproduce the us-them dichotomy? If so, how can one challenge the us-them binary rather than reproduce it? How can we redistribute and equalize the power between the dominant and subordinate culture in Western theatre- and performance production? Which stories are children and young audiences told about people from different parts of the world? Who has the right to represent whom – and how/why? Join us in the imagining of new production structures and alternative dramaturgies, with emphasis on North-South collaborations.
Mariken Lauvstad is a Norwegian theatre educator, writer and dramaturg. Drawing from her experience from 3,5 years living in South Africa and an MA in International Dramaturgy from the University of Cape Town, Lauvstad are currently specializing in issues related to cultural translation and the representation of minorities in Performing Arts. Lauvstad has broad experience from theatre for children and young people, both as an actress and as a teacher/theatre maker. She holds an acting degree in Performance Theatre from the School of Stage Arts in Denmark (2006) and a postgraduate diploma in theatre pedagogy from the Norwegian Academy of the Arts (2013).
About Howlround TV
HowlRound TV is a global, commons-based peer produced, open access livestreaming and video archive project stewarded by the nonprofit HowlRound. HowlRound TV is a free and shared resource for live conversations and performances relevant to the world’s performing arts and cultural fields. Its mission is to break geographic isolation, promote resource sharing, and to develop our knowledge commons collectively.
