On May 31, 2021 the online conference “Ukraine ASSITEJ – a Platform for Cooperation” was held, which was dedicated to the launch of the Ukrainian National Centre of the Association of theatre for children and youth, forming a community of professionals interested in the development of theatre for children and youth.
The initiative to hold the conference belongs to the organizing committee of the founders and participants of the Ukrainian National Centre Ukraine ASSITEJ.
The conference was attended by professionals of professional and amateur theatre for children, theatre critics, educators, representatives of festivals, the media and parents. Participants presented Volyn, Kyiv, Lviv, Odesa, Sumy, Ternopil, Khmelnytsky, Chernihiv, Kharkiv regions of Ukraine.
The international community of the Association of theatre for children was represented by guests: Secretary of the International ASSITEJ Executive Committee Louis Valente, Chairman of the Lithuanian ASSITEJ Executive Committee Birute Baneviciute.
The speech of the Secretary of the International ASSITEJ Executive Committee Louis Valente was devoted to the issues of cross-sectoral cooperation of the representatives of the national centre within the country, as well as the issues of interaction with the representatives of other national centers of ASSITEJ. The combination of the local dimension of art and international trends is an important aspect of achieving the Association’s goals.
Chairman of the Lithuanian ASSITEJ Executive Committee Biruta Baneviciute presented the experience of the Lithuanian National Centre, which was established in 2001 and for 20 years has significantly changed the status of theatre for children and youth in the country and achieved significant changes in cooperation with the authorities and public response to the requests of the Association’s representatives.
The representatives of the organizing committee of the conference presented the selected for the initial stage of the activities of the UNC:
– Media space and interaction of representatives of theatres for children and youth with state authorities;
– Cross-sectoral interaction between theatre and education;
– Accessibility for children to the theatre through amateur movement;
– The opportunity of interaction for representatives of UNC ASSITEJ with colleagues of World ASSITEJ.
Discussion of the meeting participants in the form of open questions of registration questionnaires, proposals outlined the needs and strategic priorities:
– to work in order to determine society’s importance of theatre for children and youth as a tool for the development of emotional intelligence;
– to form critical thinking by means of the art of theatre;
– to develop an active civil position of children and youth;
– to form common values in accordance with the goals and directions of the UN Convention on sustainable development.
The following ways to achieve the goals were suggested:
– to identify areas of activity and structure the interaction of Association’s members;
– to hold discussions with the participation of representatives of culture, public authorities, education to find ways to interact and support the development of theatre for children in Ukraine;
– to start cooperation of ASSITEJ with mass media in formation of world outlook values in young generation;
– to work in order to create and promote a quality art product for audiences aged 0 to 18;
– to work on the creation of an all-Ukrainian network ASSITEJ;
– to create in Ukraine the International festival of theatres for children and teenagers;
– to create the resource for awarding theatre figures for children with the prize from UNC ASSITEJ;
– to introduce theatre pedagogy and theatre pedagogy in the educational process;
– to interact with the city authorities, to format separate spaces for cross-sectoral activity in the conditions of megacities and accessibility to the theatre in the conditions of regional centres of culture;
– to exchange the experience between representatives of art and education.
The final speech of the conference organizing committee was devoted to the consideration of the text of the ASSITEJ Manifesto in the form of an infographic. This allowed us to understand the means of influencing the formation of public opinion about the attitude to theatre for children and youth as a tool for the formation of values.
The final word to the conference participants and viewers of the broadcast and video of the event was an invitation to cross-sectoral cooperation of Ukrainian theatre professionals and representatives of other industries and an offer to join the work of UNC ASSITEJ.
The organizing committee of the conference provided the following information about the interaction for membership in the UNC ASSITEJ:
1. The applicant sends a letter requesting a questionnaire to the mailbox ukrassitej@gmail.com.
2. Completed form of the questionnaire (individual participant, or participant-organization).
3. The Organizing Committee considers the application at the next meeting and decides on the applicant’s admission to the members of UNC ASSITEJ.
4. The applicant receives a letter of notification about the consideration of the application and invitation to work in the scheduled meeting of UNC ASSITEJ.
