Our Candidate: Julia Dina Heße

What is ASSITEJ International?

ASSITEJ is a French acronym that stands for Association Internationale du Théâtre de l’Enfance et de la Jeunesse, which means “International Association for Children and Youth Theatre” in French. ASSITEJ International is a network of artists and organisations across more than 75 countries, which dedicated to the belief that every child and young person deserves access to the arts, and especially to live performance, from the earliest possible age. ASSITEJ International is dedicated to the artistic, cultural, and educational rights of children and young people across the globe. It advocates on behalf of all children regardless of nationality, cultural identity, ethnicity, or religion.

ASSITEJ International consists of its members, which are ASSITEJ National Centres, Professional Networks, and Affiliates.

ASSITEJ Centre, Germany

The ASSITEJ Centre, Germany works both nationwide and internationally. Its members consist of theatre practitioners, theatres, and other affiliates. On the 20th March each year, ASSITEJ Germany celebrates the World Day of Theatre for Children with a big social media campaign, working with their members and international collaborators to emphasise the importance of access to theatre for young audiences. ASSITEJ Germany is also responsible for other international exchanges, including Directors in Theatre for Young Audiences – An International Exchange. This gives Directors from all over the world the opportunity to come to a host theatre in Germany to discuss theatre for young audiences, to get to know different approaches and techniques, and to broaden their networks outside of their home country.

ASSITEJ Germany works closely with other German-speaking ASSITEJ centres such as ASSITEJ Austria, ASSITEJ Switzerland, ASSITEJ Luxembourg, and ASSITEJ Liechtenstein.

ASSITEJ Germany’s Vice-President, Julia Dina Heße, is also currently a member of the ASSITEJ International’s executive committee, and will again run for office this year. She is committed to strengthening the visibility of TYA, as well as its recognition from a political perspective. She has been representing ASSITEJ Germany on the advisory board of the Goethe Institute’s dance&theatre section since 2024. She is also in charge of the well-known International Directors’ Exchange, a platform for global perspectives on creating theatre.

Julia Dina Heße has been working as a director, dramaturg and artistic director for 15 years, collaborating with various national and international theatres, festivals and companies. In 2018, she decided to leave her position as the artistic director of the Young Theatre Muenster to focus on international projects and co-productions. In 2019, she was granted a scholarship in the postgraduate programme of art mediation, Hildesheim-Marseille (PhD topic: Ecological sustainability in the content & aesthetics of TYA).

If re-elected, Julia will support ASSITEJ International through her expertise for sustainable transformation processes, and her various connections withinin international TYA networks and to cultural and social institutions. Furthermore, she can offer a strategic approach to cultural politics and lobbyism, enhanced by her skills in communication, both through facilitating workshops and through hosting events and conferences. Here, she can rely on her experience in arts management as well as in fundraising. Julia is a strong believer in the power of collaboration over competition, and constantly questions the status quo. She is quick to familiarise herself with new contexts, and is hugely enthusiastic about the ASSITEJ and its work, and the performing arts more generally.