President of ASSITEJ International, Sue Giles, has updates for us on the international sector.

European Union funding for ASSITEJ International continues for another four years with a new international project, Creative Cultural Equity. This focuses on supporting members, developing new membership, supporting professional networks, enabling greater involvement of new voices, embedding access and sustainability.

There is a new opportunity for member centres to apply for a Regional Cooperation Program which, if successful, will be 70% funded by ASSITEJ International. The program seeks to support development of theatre and performance for, with and by children and young people within a region outside of the European Union.

The open call will be released soon. For all current open calls please follow this link. 

The “Bright Generations – Générations Lumineuses”, ASSITEJ Artistic Gathering on March 23–30 2025 in Marseilles, will be an international gathering that promises great networking opportunities, especially in Europe, for Australian artists.

Two specific areas of focus are the impact of crisis and the role of culture; and the participation of children and young people.

There will be an Oceania and Asia social event hosted during the gathering where activity, artists and productions will be shared. I will share the film we made a few years ago as well as work with the sector to create an update on all things children and young people here in Oz.

There is the ASSITEJ New Voices Fellowship (a reinvention of what was the Next Generation program) seeking French speaking applicants 20–35 years old to a residency at the Gathering. The call for this will be released very soon.

Any Australians touring overseas please contact me if you would like an introduction to ASSITEJ Members wherever you go – it’s a great way to share what’s happening in our sector and to connect with new practice and practitioners. Emily McKnight attended the 2024 Visioni Festival in Bologna, run by La Baracca Testoni Ragazzi. She was part of a specific program Artists Working in Early Years (AWEY). Read her report on her experience.