1. CBTIJ/ASSITEJ Brasil General Assembly and 2021/2022 Board
On March 1st, CBTIJ held a meeting of the General Assembly. A recent revision of the Association’s contitution was discussed and voted. The center’s participation at the 20th World Congress was also discussed. Besides the three delegates (Aglaia Pusch, Cleiton Echeveste and Paulo Merisio), other members may participate in the meetings of the General Assembly, as well as in some activities of the professional and the artistic programmes. Paulo Merisio’s candidacy to the new Executive Committee (2021-2024) was confirmed. In a virtual election, the 2019/2020 board was reelected for the new term (2021-2022): Cleiton Echeveste (President), Eduardo Almeida (Secretary) and Leonardo Carnevale (Treasurer).
2. Partner project: Art as Science
In January and February, our partner project Art as Science, produced by Bactéria Filmes (from Porto Alegre/RS), held two special activities focused on Theater for Children and Youth. Art as Science has the pedagogical coordination of PhD. Viviane Juguero and broadcasts monthly live interviews on YouTube with artist-researchers.
On January 19, the special Art for Children and Youth featured six guests from six different countries: Clarissa Malheiros (Mexico), Idris Goodwin (USA), Imran Khan (India), Jerry Adesewo (Nigeria), María Inés Falconi (Argentina) and Yuck Miranda (Mozambique). Based on their artistic activities, each of them discussed the specificities of art for children in their contexts. Adding up to the international team, Viviane Juguero, who is temporarily based in Norway, doing her postdoctoral research in Theater for Early Ages, at the University of Stavanger. In Brazil were the technical coordinator Daniela Israel and the translation and childhood affairs coordinator Cleiton Echeveste.
On February 2, Cuban researcher Luvel García Leyva presented his post doctoral research at São Paulo University (USP), on “Contemporary theatrical practices and children’s subjective universes in Latin America”, based on the artistic processes of four groups (Companhia Paidéia de Teatro, from Brazil; Vichama Teatro, from Peru; Corporación Cultural Nuestra Gente, from Colombia and Teatro Trono, from Bolivia).
Both events are available at Art as Science YouTube channel (with English substitles in their best moments versions): https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCaedWa7wLM5sAVw3WTFxoQQ
3. Partner festival: Niterói em Cena International Festival
From February 18 through 24, the 13th edition of Niterói em Cena Theater Festival was held 100% virtually. With the support of CBTIJ/ASSITEJ, the Festival has become an international event since 2019. Featuring TYA shows from Belgium, Germany, Italy, Mozambique, Nigeria and Spain, and a selection of national shows, this edition also brought workshops and discussion meetings. On February 22, a discussion on the “Internationalization of Performing Arts” was mediated by Cleiton Echeveste, with the participation of Bebê de Soares (Germany), Emidio Sanderson (Fortaleza/Brasil), Lina della Rocca (Italy), Rodolfo García-Vazquez (São Paulo/Brasil), Yannick Boudeau (Belgium), Yuck Miranda (Mozambique), and Fabio Fortes (the Festival’s general director). The Festival’s website is https://www.niteroiemcena.com.br/.
4. In Memoriam – Humberto Braga
On February 4, Brazilian theater lost one of its greatest defenders, a true theater man. Whether in the field of creation, production or management, Humberto Braga was present, with competence, ethics and immense love for art, in the Brazilian cultural scene since the 1960s. He played a fundamental role in institutions, such as the National Circus School, INACEN, FUNARTE, the Ministry of Culture, and actions for the dissemination of Performing Arts, such as the Pixinguinha and Mambembão projects, in addition to participating in the struggle for the regulation of the profession of Artist, which resulted in Law 6533, of 1978. He was a first-time partner of CBTIJ, to whom he has always remained close, as a friend and collaborator, having been a judge of the CBTIJ Theater for Children Award. He, as a defender of democracy and civil and cultural rights, will be sorely missed.
