(EX)CHANGING DIRECTIONS: 50 Years of International DIRECTORS IN TYA – An International Exchange in Germany in 2025

In June 2025, ASSITEJ Germany will organise the next International DIRECTORS IN TYA – An International Exchange, marking the 50th anniversary of the event. Hamburg’s Fundus Theater / Forschungstheater shall serve as host. FUNDUS THEATER is also known as the Theatre of Research and focuses on participatory performances, bringing kids and adults together as researchers by creating spaces in which both children and adults feel safe to speak up. Here, the stage is a laboratory and a space for improbable assemblies.

As a participant in the last Exchange at Landestheater Marburg in the summer of 2023 I was able to experience firsthand something that I had only ever heard about before: the magic and power of creating new connections. Because that is the driving force behind this event, which serves as a platform for artistic exchange on equal footing. Where individuals can meet and share ideas, methods and visions. For almost 50 years, this format has not only been the starting point for many long-standing friendships, but has also laid the foundation for numerous cross-border collaborations and co-productions.

When choosing a theme for the seminar, it is always important to focus on universal yet topical issues that are relevant and approachable for directors from all over the world. In recent years, the event has thus covered a broad spectrum: its themes have ranged from “Heroes and Idols” to “Walls” and “Construction of Hope”. In Hamburg, artistic exchange will revolve around the theme of “Reassembling the world: intergenerational and international alliances in TYA”. It will start by asking questions on how TYA can make use of its potential to create alliances—not only between professionals, but between kids and adults around the world, between communities locally and globally. And how these connections can enable us to work together towards peace, justice, solidarity and inclusion worldwide.

Although FUNDUS THEATER, like its predecessors, will put together its own unique and individual programme of theatre performances, encounters and visits, some things have remained constant throughout the history of the Directors’ Exchange: every two years, around 30 theatre makers spend six incredibly intense days together, meeting for a plenary session every morning or evening and then working in small groups on various themes and issues.

The processes and experiences are unique in each Exchange, as the participants always come from an array of countries, have diverse specialisations and are at very different points in their careers. This means that emerging artists meet established colleagues and that drama, dance, music and object theatre specialists from different contexts and cultures come together to develop a common language for their perspectives and concepts during these days.

The International Directors’ Exchange is one of the many success stories that ASSITEJ Germany can look back on almost 60 years after its foundation. From the very beginning, theatres throughout Germany have hosted directors from all over the world. 572 participants from 83 countries from all continents have taken part since 1975.

The next International DIRECTORS IN TYA – An International Exchange hosted by ASSITEJ Germany will take place in June 2025 (subject to funding) A call for applications will be published in May 2024.