Strong IATC presence at the “Cradle of Creativity” in Cape Town

For the first time ever, the Congress of ASSITEJ took place on African soil. The “Cradle of Creativity” brought the world of theatre for children and young audiences to the beautiful city of Cape Town in South Africa.
IATC was represented by Emmanuel Dandaura (Nigeria) and Octavian Saiu (Romania). The two of them, together with distinguished South African theatre critic Tracey Saunders, offered a Keynote Panel in the main auditorium of the iconic City Hall of Cape Town. The panel was scheduled during the two-day Research Conference, “Examining intercultural exchange and diversity in theatre for young audiences”, and was presented to an audience consisting of practitioners, academics and students from all continents. In the same context of the “Cradle of Creativity”, Octavian Saiu was invited to offer a Workshop on “Contemporary European Performance” at Artscape, the main performing arts venue of the city.
The fruitful partnership between IATC and ASSITEJ will be extended even further, in the context of a proposed collaboration with a few other international organizations, such as UNIMA and OISTAT. This is one of the messages of hope that emerged from the unique atmosphere of the “Cradle of Creativity”. Another one is related to the newly formed South African Section of IATC, led by Tracey Saunders. Long live ASSITEJ, long live IATC!