ABOUT
Welcome to the ASSITEJ Artistic Gathering 2023: Turning Point
ASSITEJ Serbia’s 2023 festival, entitled Turning Point, is hosting the ASSITEJ Artistic Gathering 2023, which will put the performing arts of Southeastern Europe into the spotlight of the global sector of theatre and performing arts for children and young audiences (TYA).
In the 1960s, the former Yugoslavia was among the founding countries of ASSITEJ International. Despite this, a large ASSITEJ International event has never before been held in Southeastern Europe. The ASSITEJ Artistic Gathering will be held in the cities of Belgrade and Novi Sad, with the main programme taking place from 20th to 24th November 2023. We are particularly excited to be welcoming you this year, which marks ASSITEJ Serbia’s 20th year of work, development, and progress! The Gathering will open on 20th November 2023, which is World Children’s Day.
EVENT HIGHLIGHTS
The following are just a few of the many innovative and engaging programmes that Turning Point has to offer:
PRODUCTIONS AND PERFORMANCES
From regional, national, and international selections, our curatorial teams have chosen over 20 pertinent productions for Turning Point. Audiences will be delighted, engaged, and transformed by the innovative TYA performances on display.
PROFESSIONAL EXCHANGE PROGRAMME
The Professional Exchange Programme will see seminars, lectures, workshops, symposia, and panels being delivered in-person and online by delegates from around the world during the five-day ASSITEJ Artistic Gathering period (20th – 24th November 2023). For those who are unable to attend these sessions in person or whilst they are being broadcast live online, there will be an option to watch recorded versions of many of these sessions at any time until the online site closes down on 11th December 2023. In addition, the ASSITEJ International Executive Committee will host two ‘Artistic Encounters’ on the ground in Serbia for those attending in-person – and two online ‘Artistic Encounters’ for those attending virtually.
NEXT GENERATION RESIDENCY PROGRAMME
ASSITEJ Serbia and From the First Step – the regional platform of young performing arts professionals – have selected 15 young actors, dancers, directors, scenographers, critics, producers, researchers, and pedagogues from around the world to attend the ‘Next Generation Programme.’ Running from the 14th – 20th November 2023 in Novi Sad, ‘Sustainability as the Future of TYA’ will allow young practitioners to connect, create, and collaborate, forming a perfect prologue to Turning Point.
*Most sessions will be presented in English – more information about the language of presentation and translation will appear on individual event session pages when this is available.
THE RIGHTS OF CHILDREN & YOUNG PEOPLE TO CULTURE: 10 YEARS LATER
It was ten years ago, in 2013, that the General Commentary of the UN Committee for Children’s Rights on the Rights to Culture (Articles 13 and 31) was last issued. It is on this basis that the ASSITEJ Artistic Gathering 2023 (Serbia) will officially open on Monday 20th November, World Children’s Day, with an all-day academic and professional conference entitled, ‘The Rights Of Children & Young People To Culture: 10 Years Later’. Hosted by the Faculty of Dramatic Arts of the University of Arts in Belgrade, a key partner and supporter of ASSITEJ Serbia, the conference will open with a dialogue on the legal and political foundations of the rights of children and young people to culture, in which domestic and foreign experts ranging from ombudsman and public institutions to international and domestic organisations for children’s rights, as well as universities, will participate.
SCENE DESIGN & NEW TECHNOLOGIES IN TYA
The ‘Scene Design & New Technologies in TYA’ conference will explore new developments, prospects, and challenges in these fields. With participating artists, researchers, producers, and pedagogues coming from different backgrounds and disciplines, we will search for new and diverse languages and channels of communication about scene design and technological innovation in TYA with young audiences and new generations. Through presentations and conversations about the work of our guest speakers, we will consider numerous topics from various angles.
WHY TURNING POINT?
Our main goals are to advocate for the increased prominence of TYA on decision-makers’ agendas, to introduce and support the new generation of TYA practitioners, and to strengthen intergenerational trust and cooperation. We plan to give space for the diverse voices of the young, to encourage for a new push to sustainability in the Performing Arts sector, and to place our region into the spotlight for the first time.
With each new edition that has been staged over numerous years, ASSITEJ Serbia’s national festival – FAS – has paved the way for sharing ideas, strengthening togetherness, and community-building among artists and professionals in TYA, bringing us a step closer to realising our dream of gathering the ASSITEJ International community in the heart of our region.
We are delighted that our wish was granted and it is the perfect time to celebrate both the 20th anniversary of ASSITEJ Serbia and the 10th anniversary of the last General Commentary of the UN Committee for Children’s Rights on the Rights to Culture (Articles 13 and 31).
Considering the position in which the whole world now finds itself, and the status of theatre and performing arts for children and young people, we can be sure of one thing: we are in a liminal space – a transitional space that is a part of the change from one state to another. A space of ignorance, confusion, and uncertainty – where old truths have been abandoned, and new ideas have not yet emerged.
This transitional space often begins with a sense of loss, crisis, fear, meaninglessness, and the awareness that there is no going back. In the process, we give up old meanings and enter the marginal space wherein new meanings have not yet been created.
TOGETHER, WE ARE AT A TURNING POINT WHERE…
NEW GENERATIONS are taking over and becoming drivers of development;
NEW MEANS OF ENGAGING with visual arts and design are being trialled in theatre and performing arts for children and young people in relation to space, light, sound, visual identity, puppets, and / or objects;
NEW TECHNOLOGIES are being introduced to TYA as innovative ways to tell stories and engage audiences;
IT IS NOW OR NEVER in regards to the environmental, energy, and climate crisis, one of the defining issues of our time – as well as in regards to geo-political strife and the necessity to protect children’s rights, women’s rights, and human rights throughout the world.
GOALS OF THE ARTISTIC GATHERING
ADVOCATE for placing theatre and performing arts for children and young people higher on the agenda of decision-makers;
FOSTER new synergies between education and culture;
SUPPORT a new generation of TYA professionals and artists, as well as strengthening intergenerational trust and cooperation;
HEAR the diverse voices of young people and include them in decision-making processes;
PUSH for sustainability in the performing arts sector;
SPOTLIGHT the artists and productions of Southeastern Europe.
