São Paulo – Manaus, the capital of Amazonas state, will host the World Theater Congress next year and the president of the International Theatre Institute (ITI), Mohammed Saif Al-Afkham, visited the city last week for the event preparation. Afkham is from the United Arab Emirates and is at the head of the institution, which is a body from the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (Unesco) for the sector. The meeting should receive dramatic arts professionals from all over the world, including from the Arab countries.
Afkham was in Manaus leading ITI’s advanced team also comprised of professionals from Sudan, Burkina Faso, Cyprus and Switzerland. According to writer Márcio Souza, president of the City Hall Culture Council, it was the first time of Afkham to Brazil. In the Amazonas state, he visited the places selected for the Congress’ activities and local tourist attractions, such as the meeting of waters, the place where the Negro and Solimões rivers come together, and Lake Januari. On the trip back, Souza said he had come back from “paradise”.
According to Souza, Afkham said he was impressed with the structure of the city of Manaus. The capital of Amazonas statewas announced as host of the World Theater Congress in the last edition of the event in 2014, in Yerevan, capital of Armenia. Manaus is building a history as host to world events, since it was one of the host-cities of the FIFA World Cup last year, and will receive soccer matches from the 2016 Summer Olympics.
There was a preparatory meeting for the theater meeting last year, besides the one from last week, and another one is scheduled for next year. The congress will take place from June 4th to 10th, with the main activities being held at the Hotel Tropical. Also scheduled is ITI’s general assembly, which will receive delegates from more than 100 countries and have discussions about the world of dramatic arts, with topics such as freedom of expression, the theater in conflict areas, and expansion of text exchanges between countries, among others.
The congress will also have theater workshops with the artists scheduled to be in the meeting, which will be for students of the Amazon region and other parts of Brazil, and also an exhibition with 20 plays. This exhibition will open registrations for theater groups from all over the world at the end of this month and remain open until the end of October. According to Souza, it should present the most significant plays at the time. The presentations could be of dance and theater or only the latter.
Due to the event’s geographical proximity, the president of the Manaus City Hall Culture Council believes that the neighboring states should participate. Souza says that the Congress’s date was brought forward due to the Ramadan of next year, the period in which Muslims fast. He believes that the Arabs will come and expects participations also from Africa and Asia, regions with which the artists of Manaus have little contact, with the exception of Japan.
Despite having theater in its name, the congress debates the dramatic arts in general, including dance and circus. Souza, besides being the president of the City Hall Culture Council, is also a playwright, movie screenwriter, theater and opera director and a member of ITI’s executive committee. The World Theater Congress is organized in Manaus by the City Hall, with the City Hall Culture Council as coordinator and the Culture, Tourism and Events City Foundation (Manauscult) as executing body.
The advanced team that visited the city last week was also welcomed by Amazonas state governor, José Melo de Oliveira, and by the mayor, Arthur Virgílio Neto.
Service
35th World Theater Congress
From June 4th to 10th, 2016
Hotel Tropical – Manaus – Amazonas
Further information and registration for the theater exhibition (soon):
http://www.iti-worldwide.org/
*Translated by Sérgio Kakitani
