ASSITEJ Spain is a national and international non-profit cultural organisation that works through the performing arts for the right of access to art for children and young people. Its mission is to promote in Spain the development of performing arts proposals aimed at children and young people, understanding art as a fundamental right and a tool for social transformation.
From a transversal perspective, ASSITEJ brings together and articulates a wide network of cultural agents: companies, performing spaces, festivals, artists, mediators, teachers, researchers and cultural managers, who share the commitment to guarantee access to the performing arts in all their forms and contexts.
Its lines of action include dissemination, professional meetings, support for authorial creation, cultural mediation, the training of new audiences and the promotion of more accessible and inclusive cultural policies. All of this with the aim of consolidating a diverse, sustainable stage ecosystem focused on children and young people as cultural protagonists.
It is a founding and full member of the international organization ASSITEJ (Association Internationale du Théâtre pour l'Enfance et la Jeuneusse), founded in Paris in 1965 by the International Theater Institute of the UNESCO as a global alliance of professional theatre for children and young people. Today it is a worldwide network uniting thousands of theatres, organizations, and individuals through National Centres in more than 80 countries.
- To bring together individuals who, due to their hobbies or because they are members of organizations, companies, or groups, dedicate all or part of their activities to theater for children and youth.
- To facilitate and promote the development of a theatre for children and youth of high artistic value.
- To encourage writers to create plays for children and young people.
- Facilitate the exchange of works until a good repertoire is achieved.
- Promote the publication and dissemination of books, magazines, theater texts, and other artistic materials dedicated to children and youth that are related to theater.
- To promote theater for children and youth through the press, film, radio, television, and other present and future media channels.
- Organize files in any format for better documentation and study of theater for children and youth.
- Promote contacts and experiences among individuals, groups, and associations interested in theater for children and youth.
- Any other activity that may facilitate and collaborate with the above purposes.
- To intervene, whenever possible, as an interlocutor with public and private institutions for the defense and promotion of theater for children and youth.
- The production and distribution of shows are excluded from the Association's objectives.
The Association operates throughout the country and participates in various activities of ASSITEJ's international networks.
ASSITEJ and its national centers are the only ones recognized by the ITI (International Theatre Institute) and UNESCO for all types of international exchanges.
ASSITEJ Spain is part of the Ibero-American ASSITEJ Network.
In addition, ASSITEJ Spain advises, collaborates, and supports various Ibero-American organizations in establishing the corresponding ASSITEJ national centers in their respective countries.
ASSITEJ ESPAÑA occupies one of the Vocals of the Executive Committee of the State Council of Performing Arts and Music, advisory body of INAEM, Institute of Performing Arts and Music, of the Ministry of Education, Culture and Sport.
