THE HONORARY PRESIDENTS AWARD
History
In 1990 at the Stockholm World Congress, Dr. Nat Eek (USA)
realized that ASSITEJ International had no official Award to give
to its members that honored their artistic excellence in theatre
for young audiences. Wishing to honor the memory of his wife
Patricia Fulton Eek who died in 1989, and who was a lighting
designer and an ardent advocate of theatre for young people as well
as ASSITEJ, he established the Honorary Presidents Award of
ASSITEJ.
It is named and presented on behalf of all the Honorary Presidents
of ASSITEJ International - Gerald Tyler (Great Britain), Konstantin
Shak-Azizov (Russia), Nat Eek (USA), Vladimir Adamek (Czech
Republic), Ilse Rodenberg (Germany), Michael Fitzgerald
(Australia), those past and those yet to come.
This ASSITEJ Award was established and accepted by the Executive
Committee at the 1993 World Congress in Cuba. Since then it has
been given four times - first in 1996 in Rostov-on-Don, Russia; in
1999 in Trömso, Norway; in 2002 in Seoul, Korea; and most recently
in 2005 in Montreal, Canada.
Those who have received the Award in the past are:
1996 - 12th ASSITEJ World Congress - Rostov-on-Don, Russia
Michael Bartenev, playwright (Russia)
The Barking Gecko Theatre Company (Australia)
Volker Ludwig, performing artist (Germany)
Ray Nüsselein, performing artist (Denmark)
The Award was $250 each winner, a total of $1,000
1999 - 13th ASSITEJ World Congress - Trömso, Norway
Arena Theatre Company (Australia)
Eva Bergman, regiseur (Sweden) - Honorable Mention
The Award was $2,000
2002 - 14th ASSITEJ World Congress - Seoul, Korea
Suzanne Osten, director & playwright (Sweden)
The Award was $5,000
2005 - 15th ASSITEJ World Congress - Montreal, Canada
The Zeal Theatre (Australia)
Kim Woo-Ok (Korea)
The Award was $2,500 each, a total of $5,000
2008 - 16th ASSITEJ World Congress - Adelaide, Australia
La Baracca (Italy)
The Award was $5,000
2011 - 17th ASSITEJ World Congress - Copenhagen-Malmoe,
Denmark-Sweden
Teatret Gruppe 38 (Denmark)
NIE, New International Encounters
The Award was $2,500 each, a total of $5,000
Definition and Criteria
The initial purpose of the Award is to encourage membership in the
international organization among all national centers, to bring
recognition to the younger artists in the field in those national
centers, and to give them some financial assistance in their work.
It was not intended to honor those artists well established in
their field, many of whom have already been well honored by their
associates and their governments. A financial reward can mean much
more to a younger or emerging artist.
However, the 2005 Committee felt that "young" did not apply to
age, but to the newness of the
artistic work of the individual or theatre. They also recognized
that this newness must be represented in the past three (3) years
of artistic work.
A suggestion, if there is a need and desire for an Award honoring
older more visible members who have continued to do high quality
artistic work, then perhaps ASSITEJ itself should establish a
Distinguished Service Award, designed to honor those who have given
service above and beyond the call of duty to the international
organization and/or to the profession of theatre for young
audiences. It would not have to carry a financial award, but
certainly could. This would be in addition to the title of Member
of Honor, which at the moment is ASSITEJ International's award,
along with that of Honorary President.
The criteria for the winning of the Honorary Presidents Award
are:
1. The Award is given every three years in an appropriate ceremony
at the
current World Congress.
2. The Award is given to an individual creative artist or company
that has achieved noteworthy artistic excellence in theatre for
children and young people.
3. Only the creative work during the previous three years by an
individual artist or group can be considered for the Award.
4. Once a member of a national center has won the Award, that
center may not make a nomination again until six years later, or
the second World Congress after receiving the Award.
5. No individual artist or group may receive the Award more than
once.
The Award
The Honorary Presidents Award of ASSITEJ consists of:
1. A check for $5,000 US.
2. A printed Certificate attesting to the winning of the
Award.
3. An engraved goblet along with a bottle of champagne for
appropriate celebration.
4. The donor hopes in 2008 to increase the Award to $10,000
U.S.
Each of the Nominees for the Award receives a printed Certificate
which declares the following:
[Name] was nominated by [his or her] National Center for
ASSITEJ for the [Year] Honorary Presidents Award of
ASSITEJ for excellence in the profession of Theatre for
Children and Youth
and is due congratulations and high commendation for that
nomination.
Nomination Process
1. During Year II the Secretary-General sends to all national
centers via e-mail and/or regular mail the Announcement of the
Award for the next Congress, a list of the history, rules, and
regulations, along with a Nomination Form. All this information is
also made available for down-loading from the ASSITEJ
Web-Site.
2. The Nomination Form includes the following: See p. 7.
3. Samples of the Announcement and the Nomination Form
are attached. See pp. 8-9.
4. All completed Nomination Forms must be received by the
Secretariat by the deadline date indicated on the Form,
usually in Year III six months prior to the date of the next
World Congress.
Jury Selection
1. During Year II the President of ASSITEJ, with the approval of
the EXCOM, selects and appoints the five-member Jury. Three
members are chosen from the current EXCOM, and two are appointed
from among the national centers not on the EXCOM.
2. The Jury meets to review the Nominations and to select an
Awardee during the EXCOM Meeting just prior to the next World
Congress in Year III. This is normally three to six months prior to
the meeting of the World Congress.
3. If necessary ASSITEJ will assist in the financial costs of
getting the two non-EXCOM members to the meeting of the
Jury.
Jury Deliberation Process [Provided by Klaus Eggert, Chair
of the 2005 Jury]
1. Prior to the meeting, all Members of the Jury receive copies of
the nomination forms as well as the enclosures attached to
each nomination.
[This created a problem for the last Jury in that some DVD's
and Videos by law could not be sent or duplicated, so not all
the materials could be sent out to everyone. A possible future
solution would be to require the nominating center to provide
five (5) copies of all the materials, one for each of the five
(5) jurors. And perhaps a sixth for the Secretary-General's
archives.]
2. Upon meeting, the Jury first reviews all the Nominees to see if
there is any conflict of interest between the Nominees and
their Centers, and a member of the Jury. Examples are: a Jury
member from the nominating country, or a Jury member from a
neighboring country. This has usually been resolved by the Jury
member in conflict excusing himself or herself from voting on that
Nomination. However, they are expected to participate freely in the
discussion.
3. After reviewing all the submitted materials, the Jury discusses
the merits of each Nominee based on the submitted materials,
and each Juror's personal experience and knowledge of the
candidates and their artistic work.
4. Recognizing that the Award can been given for only the last
three (3) years of artistic work as well as the desirability of
selecting a young/upcoming/emerging nominee, the recent Jury felt
that "young" was not a factor of age, but should be understood to
apply to new innovative work.
5. Fairly quickly the Jury is able to narrow the Nominees down to
two or three of the most meritorious.
6. The Jury then votes or agrees on the Awardee, and in the past
this has usually been unanimous. In the event of their inability to
choose only one Awardee, the Jury in the past has divided the
Award.
7. Once a decision has been reached, the Jury forwards their
decision and recommendation to the EXCOM for their final
approval.
8. Once the EXCOM has approved the Awardee, the Secretary-General
notifies all concerned of the decision.
Notification
1. Once an Awardee has been selected, it is the responsibility of
the Chair of the Jury to send the Report of their Selection
to:
a. The Secretary-General
b. The President
2. It is then the responsibility of the Secretary-General to
notify:
a. The Donor
b. The Awardee
of this decision.
The Donor's Responsibilities
1. To provide the money for the cash Award to be given to the
Awardee.
2. To provide the engraved goblet and the bottle of champagne for
the the Awardee.
3. To provide the appropriate Certificates of Nomination and
Awarding for all the Nominees.
4. To be present at the Award Ceremony to make the presentation
of the Award, or to appoint an appropriate person to make the
presentation.
ASSITEJ's Responsibility to the Donor
1. To send a copy of the Award Announcement and Nomination
Form to the donor at the time of their issue.
2. To send a copy of the Jury's Selection Report to the donor
after the time of the Jury's deliberation.
3. To request the donor's approval of the recommendation, only in
terms of fulfilling the criteria of the Award, not whether the
Awardee is to be approved or not.
4. To notify the donor of the time and place of the Awards
Ceremony, and to request his presence.
Time Table Following the Previous World
Congress
Year I - [no activity]
Year II - Notification of the Award and Nomination Form is sent to
all National Centers by the Secretary-General from the
Secretariat, with a date certain for the return of all nominations
and materials.
In 2005 Notification was sent by e-mail as well as regular mail.
The announcement was also sent several times to remind the centres,
and the information was also in the Newsletter. The basic
information plus additional information was posted on the ASSITEJ
web-site from October 2004 until the deadline of February
2005.
The President with the approval of the EXCOM selects the
five-person Jury.
Year III - The Jury meets for deliberation and selection of the
Awardee.
The meeting is held in conjunction with the regular EXCOM meeting
held just prior to the next World Congress.
The Jury notifies the EXCOM of their selection, and the EXCOM
approves it.
The Secretary-General notifies the Donor only for his approval in
relation to the rules of the Award. It is not within the purview of
the Jury to change the rules of the Award. If the Jury desires
changes, those changes can only be made with the approval of the
EXCOM and the Donor.
The Secretary-General notifies the winner of the Award.
The Award and Certificates to all the nominees are presented to
the winners at an appropriate ceremony during the next World
Congress.
Respectfully submitted,
Nat Eek
Honorary President of ASSITEJ
Past President 1972-1975