The Babel project started nearly 4 years ago. Activities within the project have been implemented in 11 EU countries and 6 countries on all continents (Indonesia, Jordan, South Africa, Brazil, Cuba and Pakistan). Artists all around the world have met and worked together to perform, to discuss and to reflect on how linguistic and cultural differences are an asset not only in and for our community, but also for children and young people by listening and opening ourselves to them.
Dear ASSITEJ Members and community,
I am very happy to write the opener for the first newsletter of the year.
I wish you a Happy New Year. May 2026 bring joy, emotions, resilience, debate, resistance, and more cooperation.
Regarding ASSITEJ activities, 2025 was quite dense: the launch of a new project co-funded by the European Union called ‘Creating Cultural Equity: Removing Barriers to Equitable Participation for Artists & Audiences in Theatre & Performing Arts for Children & Young People’; the amazing and fantastic Bright Generations-Générations lumineuses Artistic Gathering in Marseille with the celebration of the 60th anniversary of ASSITEJ International, and the end of the Babel project or ‘the Art of Listening in Theater for Young Audiences’.
The Babel project started nearly 4 years ago. Activities within the project have been implemented in 11 EU countries and 6 countries on all continents (Indonesia, Jordan, South Africa, Brazil, Cuba and Pakistan). Artists all around the world have met and worked together to perform, to discuss and to reflect on how linguistic and cultural differences are an asset not only in and for our community, but also for children and young people by listening and opening ourselves to them.
The final conference, held in Theatre la Montagne Magique during the Export/Import festival in Brussels, gathered more than 100 professionals in a 5-hour session, and it could have lasted much longer. For us, it showed how people working in Performing Arts for Young Audiences are profoundly engaged in what they are doing. The conference served also as an advocacy moment uniting researchers, managers of the project, artists, curators, and people from the EU, who have been impressed by the quality of the interventions.
Although I am sad the project has ended, we are very proud of what has been achieved, especially the release of the Catalogue of Inspirations, translated into 10 different languages and open to anyone who would like to translate it into their own language. This will, I hope, inspire many of us in the future, by opening new artistic perspectives, to better listen and therefore understand children and young people.
You can download the Catalogue here.
The endline report of the Babel project made by Chris Blois-Brooke is very valuable, and brings some elements of criticism from different stakeholders involved, that could serve as a potential next project; a more inclusive and reciprocal project that could benefit even more people.
One of the things I have learnt from Babel is that an international project should not only serve the people involved, but it should also serve everyone in the ASSITEJ community, including our audiences, thus removing barriers.
