Dear National Centers, dear Councillors, dear Representatives,
UNIMA continues its actions as much as possible to keep connected with you, to respond to the emergency situation and to gain perspective.
The World Puppetry Day 2021
We hope that everyone, in every country, will be able to celebrate World Puppetry Day, giving a special strength and color in this year 2021 with everything we are going through. It will be the occasion of a strong bond regained with the public!
You will find attached a press release about the event.
We invite you to share it with your members and take ownership of the proposed video project as you do every year.
You can upload your actions and events in an online form on the UNIMA website: www.unima.org/en/projects-and-achieveme ... hare-event
You can also share them right now on social networks with the hastags: #WPD2021 #UNIMA #WorldPuppetryDay2021.
The poster will be available at the end of December.
We are waiting for the response from the personality requested for the 2021 message and will keep you informed.
We very much hope that the movement will be strong this year to celebrate this Day worthily!
www.unima.org/en/projects-and-achieveme ... ppetry-day
www.facebook.com/WorldPuppetryDay
ResiliArt roundtables
The ResiliArt roundtables continue. You can find them on the dedicated UNIMA page or on the Facebook page of the project. All the videos of the round tables organised since June are available here.
www.unima.org/en/projects-and-achieveme ... und-tables
www.facebook.com/ResiliArtUnima
We invite the National Centers to organize their round table. They can contact Clément Peretjatko at the address: [email protected] in order to agree on a date and to be accompanied on the frame.
Save the date, UNIMA will organize a debate jointly with UNESCO on March 20, 2021.
In addition, UNESCO has published a guide of good practices and mechanisms set up around the world, you will find it by following this link: https://en.unesco.org/creativity/public ... t-creative
Emergency aid
UNIMA's emergency aid for puppeteers around the world continues.
It is thanks to the mobilization of all that we can bring solidarity to those who are in serious difficulty, the emergency aid being primarily focused on basic needs: housing and food.
To contribute to emergency aid or to request emergency aid, please go here: www.unima.org/en/useful-information/eme ... ppeteers-2
2020 Membership Fee
The membership to UNIMA is part of the resources which make the association live. It is also a necessary commitment of the National Centers to remain a member of the organization. The statutes specify that this membership fee must be paid before March 31 of each year.
As we know, the current situation has made it difficult for some Centers to pay the 2020 membership fee. We have been able to find, with each one who has shared their situation with us, adapted solutions. So please do not remain silent.
Moreover, without the Congress it is not easy for many of our Centers to pay their membership fees, which they usually pay in cash to avoid high transfer costs or because of political restrictions. We remind you that this is the case for classic transfers and that there are several ways to pay one's dues. We are in December 2020: if you have not yet paid your membership fee, please contact the UNIMA secretariat in order to find the appropriate solution.
New membership cards
Postponed for one year, the new membership card will be issued in 2021. It will be individualized with the first and last name of each member or organization as well as the photo or logo and the first year of membership.
We hope that it will allow members to benefit from advantages all over the world. We therefore invite you to inform the host organizations that are members of your Center so that they can, if they wish, offer discounts and/or advantages to UNIMA members. To do so, they can complete the form on this page:
www.unima.org/en/benefits-member-unima
In order to be visible on this page: www.unima.org/en/advantages-card-member-unima
For the realization of the cards, the secretariat of UNIMA will send you a detailed e-mail on the elements we need to realize them. Caution, we will not edit the cards without photo/logo and we will only edit the cards of the Centers up to date with their 2021 membership fee.
4 creations, 4 continents
For the moment, we cannot guarantee the presentation of the 4 creations that were to be realised in 2020 at the UNIMA Congress in Bali and which have been postponed to 2021 in April. We are studying the different possibilities of programming the 4 creations (as foreseen in the initial project) if the Congress was virtual. As soon as we have solved the problem, we will inform you. However, this project has been an opportunity to structure more complete projects.
Africa
Since 2019, the General Secretariat has been working closely with partners in Africa to make the inter-African creation possible. The latest health and geopolitical events have forced us, like everyone else, to review the calendar because the first residences were to take place in Ivory Coast in November 2020. This project is an opportunity for collaboration between partners in Ivory Coast, Senegal, South Africa, Burkina Faso, Mali and Togo.
Europe
The General Secretariat of UNIMA is working closely with European partners for the implementation of the European creation which had to be postponed because the last residency planned for April 2020 could not be held. We are also working to continue the cycle of international workshops started in 2018. This takes the form of the PUPPETt.NET network, which is working on the issues of professionalization, training, pedagogy, structuring and digital possibilities. Large worksite to be prepared. We plan the first actions for the beginning of 2022.
Do not hesitate to send us reports of the actions of your Centers at the same time as your contributions. Moreover, we remind you that we need to receive your statutes in digital form as well as the list of your members, who are also members of UNIMA.
I send you full of courage in this very difficult period for the arts and culture.
Let us remain united to make the puppet live!
Idoya Otegui,
General Secretary of UNIMA