On August 21 & 22, ASSITEJ Belgium attended the important and rather secluded Walloon showcase Rencontres Théâtre Jeune Public de Huy, for the first time with such a large Flemish delegation. For over twenty years, the youth department of the Province of Liège has been organising this showcase for performative arts for a young audience in the French Community of Belgium. It takes place each August in Huy, a small village along the Meuse and is the most important encounter between productions and programmers in Wallonia. There are about 30 productions each year with around 800 (mostly professional) spectators, both from Belgium and abroad.
We had invited Flemish programmers to be part of their southern colleagues’s biggest event of the year, to encourage some cross-pollination across the language border. Among the attendees were Veerle Boesmans (CC Zwaneberg), Eva Steel (C-Mine), Sabine Van Baelen (CC ‘t Getouw), Johan De Smet (Kopergietery), Veerle Kerckhoven (Bronks), Gerhard Verfaille (CC Hasselt/Krokusfestival), Tom Rummens (hetpaleis), Isabel Joly (Zonzo Compagnie), Peter De Bie (Laika), Marijke De Moor (Kunstenpunt), Kaatje De Geest (ASSITEJ Belgium), An Joseph (De Warande) and Bieke De Meester (De Spil).
This was a perfect occasion for them to discover the work of some French-speaking ASSITEJ colleagues, and to see how the children and youth programmers operate in Wallonia. Here you can read an interview with Tom Rummens in La Libre on his experience.