Imagining all of this was wonderful, but experiencing it firsthand was indescribable. The children—the families—the artists—the performance spaces—the gardens—us right there in the middle: it was as if we were in another world, another space-time, far removed from so many of the difficult things we’re currently facing in the world.
Before the ASSITEJ Executive Committee meeting on Monday, March 16, Louis Valente (Secretary General of ASSITEJ International) and I took the opportunity to have a fruitful meeting with artists and members of Panama’s Ministry of Culture, with a view to establishing a new ASSITEJ National Center. Actions like this reveal much of what we think about and discuss within the Executive Committee: how can we make the most of our travels, leveraging opportunities in a sustainable way? What initiatives can help expand the association’s reach? How can we encourage the creation of new centers in other regions?
Before attending an open meeting of the Executive Committee, I used to wonder: just how hard do these people work? What drives them? But I always sensed that there was something very powerful there, beyond the constant and essential work of devising the best ways to run a global association. And the meeting we just held in Mexico added another layer of confirmation to this intuition…
From Tuesday to Friday, we had daily meetings at the National Institute of Fine Arts and Literature (INBAL). There, we held meetings with the event team, workshops with national artists, and carried out the work inherent to our meetings: we discussed the association’s direction, issues related to our members, considered ways to strengthen policies and disseminate our ideas and activities, planned our events and the various EC representations around the world, evaluated project possibilities, among many other things. Little by little, especially at lunchtime, when we sat down to eat on the grass of the Jardin Escénico, we received some information from Anelvi Rivera, Deputy Director of INBAL’s Theater for Children and Youth Program and member of ASSITEJ Mexico, about the 18° Gran Maratón Nacional de Teatro para niñas, niños, niñes y adolescentes, and we began building the event in our imagination:
– Families sit here in the garden while they wait for the performances…
– There are 42 performances here in Mexico City and 37 in other cities…
– There are, on average, approximately 18,000 spectators this weekend…
– There are food stalls, book stands, and theatre merchandise booths run by refugee families, artists, local producers, publishers, advocates for inclusion, poets, and young people in detention or at risk…
Imagining all of this was wonderful, but experiencing it firsthand was indescribable. The children—the families—the artists—the performance spaces—the gardens—us right there in the middle: it was as if we were in another world, another space-time, far removed from so many of the difficult things we’re currently facing in the world.
This experience reinforced the feeling that all our effort makes sense. That there is something very powerful that connects all the people who are interested in art for and with children and youth. And that, certainly, this common thread stems from our recognition of the beauty of this in-between space, of the encounter, of the moment when a child forms a bond with a work of art. An energy that was palpable in the air that weekend. It gave concrete form to the entire process of building a campaign to celebrate March 20, World Day of Theatre for Children and Young People. We hope that all members of our community can experience this Mexican initiative and draw inspiration from this format. And we also hope to learn about the diverse activities taking place around the world to celebrate this date, which is so important to our community.
