In May, at the Tokyo Congress, a stage closes for me. After 6 years, I will no longer be part of the Executive Committee. I think about this fact and inevitably a kind of balance is imposed on me.
The first thing I want to do is to thank all the members of ASSITEJ, who trusted me during these six years as a member of the Executive Committee.
It was hard work but enriching. In addition to the difficulties inherent in working at an international level, which involves trying to contemplate different realities, not trying to unify them but to really understand them, there are the difficulties inherent in our developing countries, with their political and economic ideas and comings and goings and, personally, they had an extra plus in English as the language of communication, which, not being our first language, makes all communication have strong interferences.
I am very happy that my time in the EC has coincided with a time of consolidation of the Ibero-American Network and its members. From two candidates from the region who presented themselves at the congress in Warsaw in 2014 to 3 candidates at the congress in South Africa and we hope to have several at the next congress in Tokyo.
The Network’s projects were multiplied, a fluid communication channel was achieved that makes thinking together as project generators more viable and concrete.
An Ibero American Festival, CBTIJ 25th years with Festival and Regional Workshops, the 6th TYA Researchers and Critics International Forum in Buenos Aires, the FITA in Chile and why not a future ASSITEJ Congress in the region, are some of our project for the future.
I am also happy to have been able to be part of the EC team that managed to establish an annual structure for the ASSITEJ Regional Workshops. The power of the creative encounters encourages networking. I believe that the formation and training of TYA professionals is an open door for the multiplication not only of theatre makers but also of ASSITEJ centres in the region and the world.
A regional workshop is being prepared in Brazil in April, and we are about to release the call for those centres that want to organize the regional workshop in 2021.
I believe that the Tokyo Congress opens a new period full of new challenges. Consolidate what has been done in order to move forward into the future. A future of more and more theatre for children and young people all over the world.
I would like to take this opportunity to wish all the ASSITEJ community a very happy 2020 and see you in Tokyo.
