Protocol on Cooperation Signed with the Association of Theatre for Children and Young People - ASSITEJ Serbia

At the Faculty of Dramatic Arts in Belgrade, on October 13, 2021, a Protocol on Cooperation was signed with the Association of Theatre for Children and Young People - ASSITEJ Serbia.

ASSITEJ Serbia, which acts as a national association of theatres for children and youth and a branch of the world network of theatres for children and youth in Serbia, has been working for 18 years to promote theatrical art for young audiences at the highest artistic level, to encourage and monitor its development, to affirm theatrical creativity and creators on the domestic and international scene, with the mission to influence the change of attitude towards theatrical creatorship for the young audience with its overall action.

The signed protocol establishes cooperation in the field of education and artistic creation in the domain of theatre for children and youth, with the aim of:

• Improving knowledge, creative potentials and tools in the field of performing arts for children and youth;

• Popularization of art for children and youth in the culture and education sector;

• Conceptualization and implementation of joint educational and artistic projects that will best promote culture for children and youth;

• Creation and implementation of educational programs dedicated to FDA students;

• Mutual exchange of information on all relevant activities of common interest

 

and in the context of the strategic development of the domestic theatre scene for children and youth in Serbia, towards the ASSITEJ Artistic Gathering, which will be held in Belgrade and Novi Sad in May 2023, with the participation of about 500 artists, producers, festival curators, researchers and other theatre professionals from around the world.

The official cooperation is beginning with the realization of the accompanying program of the project Incubator: the right of children and youth to art, which aims to create a visible and interactive space for dialogue and exchange of theoretical and practical experiences regarding the position of culture and art for children and youth in various fields.

The accompanying program of the project includes three workshops intended for students of the theatre departments and will take place at the Faculty of Dramatic Arts on Friday, December the 3rd. at 4 p.m.

The authors and moderators of the workshops come from different fields of creatorship for children and youth: Milena Bogavac will work with the participants of the workshop on the development of new models of the audience development in the field of children and youth theatre; Milena Depolo will discuss with the participants the importance of research work for the needs of writing plays for children and young audiences and meeting with them in the process of writing as well as Anđelka Janković, who will give a lecture, and present her research on the topic of childhood museology, and the importance of introducing this subject, to defend the right of children to culture.

In addition to workshops, Diana Kržanić Tepavac, drama pedagogue and president of the Executive Board of ASSITEJ Serbia, and Tatjana Nikolić, a long-term associate of ASSITEJ Serbia, researcher and teaching associate at FDA, will present the importance and possibilities of networking in this field through the example of ASSITEJ, which with its dedicated engagement in the development of the network of associates on the international scene contributed to the decision to hold the ASSITEJ Artistic Gathering in Belgrade and Novi Sad in 2023, whose producer is Tatjana Nikolić in cooperation with the ASSITEJ Executive Board and several colleagues, while Diana Kržanić Tepavac acts as the Programming Director.

The results of the project Incubator, initiatives and examples of good practice will be an integral part of a broader campaign planned in the preparatory year 2022, before the ASSITEJ Artistic Gathering in Serbia 2023, which will focus on increasing the visibility and importance of children and youth rights to culture.

The central part of the Incubator will take place in the virtual space on December the 15th from 10 am to 4 pm, about which more detailed information will follow soon.

 

(Photographs belong to productions presented at the national showcase Festival of ASSITEJ Serbia last month in Belgrade).