2024 Cuba Statement
Since the 2021 hybrid ASSITEJ World Congress, conference and festival held in Japan, the 21st ASSITEJ World Congress & Performing Arts Festival Congress “Voices of a New World” took place in Havana, Cuba from 24 May to 1 June.
At this event about 20 of the 488 delegates came from Africa (Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal, South Africa, Zambia, Zimbabwe). The concept of “The People in Havana” was coined. This related to African delegates who were physically present in Havana for the ASSITEJ International event.
What follows is a statement drawn from their deliberations and lived experiences while in Havana and based on that, they wish to make certain observations and recommendations meant to ensure (re)Generation, (re)Thinking and (re)Strategisation of the African Children and Youth Theatre Arena (ACYTA) – the informal network of all Assitej centres in Africa, tasked with growing TYA on the continent and increasing African visibility in the global sphere.
This (re)Generation aligns with Cuba’s theme of embodying visions.
Our first collaboration was necessitated by the events of Africa Day, whose program was started online and was led by Jerry Adesewo and Yvette Hardie, with support from Louis Valente. Many members participated and made input on how the day could be celebrated in alignment with the theme of Educating an Africa Fit for the 21st century.
Africa Day was gracefully celebrated and hosted at la Casa de Africa, where an insightful discussion was organized by the director and researchers from the Africa museum alongside two African delegates (Carole Karamera, Rwanda and Bernard Mutambwa, Zambia). It was a fruitful discussion highlighting commonalities between African and Cuban experiences. Lalu Mokuku, South Africa and Pamela Udoka, Nigeria, read the collective message for the day (a full statement is available) and all African delegates were able to present themselves as part of the collective.
This event was followed by two great shows, one from Afro-Cuban music and dance artists and one from South Africa, Magnet Theatre’s Bounced!. These brought Cuban audience and also international delegates of the Assitej Congress to their feet. At these event, the ambassadors from Ethiopia, Mali and South Africa were present.
In the evening, this was followed up by a presentation of films from Zimbabwe, Namibia, Malawi, Nigeria, Mozambique, Uganda, Kenya and South Africa. There was a full cinema in attendance and a great deal of interest in the African work was demonstrated during and after the event. (Unfortunately Zambia’s contribution was delayed en route due to missing airline baggage.)
Thereafter, a powerful common desire to support Africa’s presence and hopefully maintain our two seats at the Executive Committee, was shown. In this regard, the African delegates present in Cuba and other candidates in the online group, decided strategically to go with two candidates instead of four after a series of in-person and online meetings prompted by persons with experience of such matters in the past.
We would like here to thank Jerry Adesewo and Yuck Miranda for their noble hearts and immense commitment in TYA and their support for the decision to prioritise the two African candidates standing for elections who were present in Cuba, thus preventing a split vote and the possibility of candidates not reaching the needed minimum number of votes for support.
The people in Cuba agreed to focus on reviving the institutional memory of ACYTA, starting with the establishment of ASSITEJ centres in Africa which was led by Nichola Malmcrona while he was the Secretary General of ASSITEJ International, with support from SIDA. It was agreed that Yvette Hardie and Etoundi Zeyang would be invaluable in sharing this information along with other longstanding ACYTA members such as Cheela Chilala and others.
It was agreed to look into a more collective leadership of ACYTA with representations thereof from the five regions in Africa (5) and from the different languages spoken on the continent. An online meeting of ACYTA to discuss the new structures, leadership and voting procedures of the African network is suggested, as soon as possible, as well as a physical meeting of the African network in due course.
It was agreed to creatively explore the possibility of addressing issues of governance in the centres and establishing best practices through application for a Regional Project (a new initiative of ASSITEJ International) – with a deadline 1 November 2024. This project will need to be conceptualised and developed by ACYTA.
ASSSITEJ South Africa shared that their ambassador Yvonne (Pinky) Phosa has extended an invitation to SA artists to participate in the Heritage Day events in Cuba in September, and that she was looking for creatives from Limpopo in particular to share her vision.
ASSITEJ South Africa further shared that they are working on partnership with the Nelson Mandela Children’s Fund for the preparations of the African Children’s Summit and are tasked with assisting with the programming. More information about this opportunity will be shared in due course.
It was announced that Jerry Adesewo had initiated a database initiative for festivals in Africa, and that this needs to be concluded. It is possible that TYA festivals around the continent could serve as the basis for the Regional programme mentioned above.
ASSITEJ Zimbabwe shared about their special program with Limpopo and South Africa felt it might be invaluable to introduce them to ASSITEJ Coordinators in Limpopo. It was felt that this was particularly useful because both South Africa and Zimbabwe met their ambassadors while here.
ASSITEJ Zambia reported that they would be hosting the 2024 Jacaranda International Children and Youth Arts Festival from October 16 – 19 2024, where four International groups will participate. They noted that the groups from Botswana, Japan, Malawi and Zimbabwe, and that other ACYTA members are invited.
ASSITEJ Nigeria shared about the upcoming ANT Festival, scheduled for December 2024 in the frame of the world famous and internationally renowned, Carnival Calabar. An invitation was extended for all to come and share the Carnival experience while engaging in theatrical performances, workshops and conferences.
It was agreed that there would be a consensus on the establishment of the ACYTA structure and thereafter democratically vote for the leadership.
The meeting concluded with a common commitment to continue to fly the African flag high and to ensure that our artists are recognised and integrated into the international networks on an ongoing basis.
We celebrate the election of Carole Umalinga Karamera and Lalu Mokuku to the ASSITEJ International EC (2024-2027) and also the fact that the latter has been appointed as one of the three Vice Presidents.
The End.
