Postponing the 20th ASSITEJ & Performing Arts Festival / MIRAI 2020

From Louis Valente, Secretary General of ASSITEJ:
 
Dear members of ASSITEJ.

We write to you because the Executive Committee of ASSITEJ and ASSITEJ Japan have decided to postpone the 20th ASSITEJ World Congress & Performing Arts Festival / MIRAI 2020.

We have for a long time been working with different scenarios for the congress and its different elements according to potential developments of the virus and organizational possibilities. However, since COVID-19 became a pandemic, there has been no doubt that it is impossible to hold an event gathering hundreds of people in one place and that very few of you – if any at all – would be able to make your way to Tokyo in May. 
The timing of the announcement has been determined by the process to secure support from the major funding bodies, to ensure that the Congress and festival can take place in the future.
We are now able to announce that we postpone all the elements of the congress and the MIRAI Festival:
  • Main festival programme
  • Fringe festival programme
  • ASSITEJ Congress (General Assembly and Artistic Encounter)
  • Next Generation programme
  • ITYARN conference
  • All events related to the various networks
  • Other scheduled Symposia, Seminars, Workshops
  • ASSITEJ Awards Ceremony

The festival team and the EC will reach out to all persons and companies engaged in these programme elements, to make it clear what the postponement means for their activities.

The official announcement can be read on our website.

Postponed to when?
It is our intention to hold the Congress in the second half of March 2021 (most likely in the period 15-31 March). The congress is a big and complicated event and we need to work on the major organizational elements and follow the development of COVID-19, before confirming the specific dates. We will be back to you in this respect as soon as we can. 
For any flight tickets already purchased, this means that it may be possible to change the dates instead of cancelling the flights, according to the booking conditions of each ticket.
General Assembly
The General Assembly and most of its agenda will be postponed. 
9.8.1 in the Constitution of ASSITEJ states that “Elections for the Executive Committee of the Association are held at a meeting of the General Assembly at least once in every three (3) calendar years.” 
To respect this part of the constitution we will call for a special meeting of the General Assembly asking for approval for the postponing of the elections of the Executive Committee to March 2021 (fourth calendar year since the 19th congress in 2017). The meeting will use online voting and video conferencing.  
More information about this will follow.
 
We know that many of you and your members are suffering the consequences of COVID-19 and the related government measurements. If ASSITEJ can be of any help in the political work for government compensations or similar, don’t hesitate to let us know. 
In a European context, ASSITEJ co-signed a letter addressing the European Union and its member states that can be read here: https://www.europeantheatre.eu/news/press-release-coronavirus-pandemic
We send you our very best wishes in this difficult time!
 
Louis Valente,
on behalf of the Executive Committee.
 

 

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