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| Jay Handelman |
THE INTERNATIONAL COMMITTEE of the American Theatre Critics Association was
represented at the recent executive committee meeting of AICT-IATC last month
by Foundation ATCA president Jay Handelman. Held this time in Malmö, Sweden, on the
occasion of the biennial festival of the arts, executive committee meetings
allow for lively exchanges of ideas related to the business of managing our
various associations. When the delegates are not in meetings, they have the
opportunity to sample local theatrical offerings and report back to our
membership in the United States. As someone with numerous experiences in our
international meetings, Handelman served as delegate for Jeffrey Eric Jenkins,
chair of the International Committee and vice president of the International
Association of Theatre Critics. The
critic for the Sarasota Herald-Tribune, Handelman also reported on his
theatergoing experience for his readers in Florida.
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| Margareta Sörenson |
The Malmö meeting, chaired by
AICT-IATC president Margareta Sörensen of Sweden, was devoted largely to
discussions about future opportunities for international seminars for young critics and for established critics, the planned 2016 World Congress, and
developments aimed at helping the AICT-IATC webjournal, Critical Stages, to sustain the
growth it has experienced since its inception. Now overseen by its third editor, Savas Patsalidis of Greece, Critical Stages has embarked on a project of outreach and development
aimed at larger readership and greater impact in cultural discourse.
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| Jean-Pierre Han |
Jean-Pierre Han, the
director of seminars who represents France and serves as one of three vice
presidents of AICT-IATC, reported that there have been numerous challenges in
getting seminars to fruition--there were more than a half dozen proposed in
Beijing--due to shifting budget priorities in potential host countries and the
cost of travel for potential attendees. There are positive signs that a Young
Critics' Seminar will be arranged in Bangkok, Thailand, at the end of October
2015, but there are no additional details. A call was sent by ATCA chairman Bill Hirschman to all American Theatre Critics
Association members about an Established Critics event in Novi Sad, Serbia, set
for September 2015. The application deadline was June 20. There is also a
possibility of an Established Critics' Seminar in Buenos Aires, Argentina, late
in 2015, though there is no further information as of this date.
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| Ivan Medenica |
In Beijing last fall, Serbia proposed hosting the 2016
World Congress and leaders continue to discuss the possibility of making it work. According to Ivan
Medenica, the representative from Serbia, the country's current financial
outlook and upcoming elections may lead AICT-IATC to seek a different arrangement for 2016. Other possibilities are under consideration, including an alternative
format for hosting a congress, which is currently under consideration by the
leadership of the AICT-IATC executive committee.
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| Savas Patsalidis |
The vision for Critical Stages
continues to evolve under the leadership of editor Patsalidis, managing editor
Don Rubin, and executive editor Jenkins. With overhead amounting to the
equivalent of $10,000 USD, the publication now seeks donations and advertising
from individuals and groups. Illinois Theatre has committed to advertising its
programs of study on the site through 2016. An ongoing challenge to the journal
are the archives of the first ten volumes, which have been rendered
inaccessible due to changes in technology and technical personnel. Patsalidis
offers a strong vision for the publication's continued improvement, which will ultimately reflect well on the organization.
Finally, the
organization has created a logo contest that seeks submissions for a visual
representation of the association that takes into account the contemporary
dimensions of "live performance" as AICT-IATC engages with them.
Submissions should be forwarded to Michel Vaïs, the secretary general of the association, by September 21, 2015.
