“Fabulamundi. Playwriting Europe – Beyond Borders?” is a cooperation project among theatres, festivals and cultural organisations from 10 EU Countries (Italy, France, Germany, Spain, Romania, Austria, Belgium, UK, Poland and Czech Republic). The network aims to support and promote the contemporary playwriting across Europe, in order to reinforce and enhance the activities and strategies of the professionals and artists working in the sector and to provide the theatre authors and professionals with opportunities of networking, multicultural encounter and professional development.
Before the current edition, “Fabulamundi. Playwriting Europe” has been funded twice with the support of the European Commission and intends now to widen both its reach and impact in the sector. After the experiences of the last 4 years, Fabulamundi has verified a constant need to provide the sector with adequate and suitable tools that can help them overcome its weaknesses. In spite of the lack of natural connections between and professional attitude amongst the dramaturgies of the different Countries, Fabulamundi partnership has verified there is a growing interest in the European contemporary playwriting; therefore the need to improve the multilateral relationships and the exchanges becomes urgent.
This new edition of Fabulamundi will mark a difference with the previous editions, maximising the impact and the diffusion of the methodologies and activities tested in the previous years and adding new EU scale initiatives.
The theme addressed in this new edition of Fabulamundi is “Beyond borders?”: a wide reflection of a relevant, challenging and dramatic theme Europe and European citizens, women and men have to face every day. Borders are the one refugees try to overcome to seek safety in foreign and unknown Countries; borders (physical or cultural) are the ones some European Countries are rising against immigration and/or against Europe; borders are the ones people with impairments have to face in their everyday life; at the same time, and at a less dramatic scale, borders are the ones playwrights meet when trying circulate their plays in foreign language; borders are the one Fabulamundi partners had to overcome when discussing their expectations about the project and come to a common ground of comprehension.
In few words, “Fabulamundi: Beyond borders?” will focus its attention on the slippery theme of barriers and borders overcoming, with a specific attention to refugee and asylum seekers and immigrants.
As cultural institutions, partners are well aware of the fact that this is a great challenge for the consortium, for intrinsic and extrinsic reasons. The first ones are related to the fact that very often cultural institutions consider their missions as a purely cultural and do not want to be engaged in the social arena; the second ones are linked to the public perception of cultural institutions, very often felt as distant and elitist. The effort of Fabulamundi will be that of combining cultural and social values not only in the public arena but also within the institutions themselves.
Visit the Fabulamundi website for more information and updates.
