Union Internationale de la Marionnette Organisation Internationale non gouvernementale bénéficiant du statut consultatif auprès de l’UNESCO fondée en 1929 UNIMA Council Varadero - Cuba April 22nd, 23rd, 24th, 2014 1 2 Agenda - Ordre du jour - Orden del día Day 1 - Tuesday / Mardi / Martes 22nd, 2014 > 9:00 to 13:30 1/ Welcome speech by the UNIMA President Discours de bienvenue du Président de l'UNIMA Discurso de bienvenida por el Presidente 2/ Report of the Secretary General Rapport du Secrétaire Général Informe del Secretario General 3/ Report of the Treasurer Rapport de la Trésorière Informe de la Tesorera 4/ Approbation of the compilation of the minutes of the Congress of Chengdu Approbation du résumé des minutes du Congrès de Chengdu Aprobación del resumen del acta del Congreso de Chengdu 5/ Reports of the Commissions Rapports des Commissions Informes de las Comisiones Day 2 - Wednesday / Mercredi / Miercoles 23rd, 2014 > 9:00 to 13:30 6/ Reports of the National Centres Rapports des Centres Nationaux Informes de los Centros Nacionales 7/ Presentation of the project of Bank of visual and numerical information Présentation du projet de Banque d'information visuelle et numérique Presentación del proyecto de Banco de información visual y numérica 8/ Information about preparation of next Congress (San Sebastián- Tolosa 2016) Information sur la préparation du prochain Congrès (San Sebastián- Tolosa 2016) Información sobre preparación del próximo Congreso (San Sebastián- Tolosa 2016) 9/ Committee of Election Comité des Élections Comité de las Elecciones Day 3 - Thursday / Jeudi / Jueves 24th, 2014 > 9:00 to 13:30 10/ Presentation of the new website Présentation du nouveau site internet Presentación del nuevo sitio web 11/ Open discussion Discussion ouverte Discusión abierta 12/ Various questions Questions diverses Cuestiones diversas 3 Summary English - Welcome Speech of President x - Report of Secretary General x - Report of the Treasurer x - Compilation Minutes Chengdu x - Commission Africa meeting - Commission Asia -Pacific meeting - Commission Cooperation x - Commission Cultural Exchange x - Commission Education-Development and Therapy meeting - Commission Europe x - Commission of Puppetry Heritage Preservation - Commission of International Festivals x - Commission for Latin America x - North American Commission x - Commission Publication and Communication x - Sub Commission Contemporary Writing x - Research Commission x - Statutes Commission meeting - Commission of Strategic Development meeting - Training Commission meeting - Women Commission x - UNIMA Austria x - UNIMA Belgium French - UNIMA Bulgaria x - UNIMA Canada x - UNIMA China x - UNIMA Croatia x - UNIMA Cuba x - UNIMA Finland x - UNIMA France French - UNIMA Germany x - UNIMA Iceland x - UNIMA India x - UNIMA Indonesia x - UNIMA Ivory Coast French - UNIMA Japan x - UNIMA Mexico x - UNIMA Netherlands x - UNIMA Poland x - UNIMA Russia x - UNIMA Korea x - UNIMA Spain Spanish - Representation UNIMA in Costa Rica Spanish - Representation UNIMA in Iraq x - Preparation of next Congress 2016 x - Commitee of Election meeting - Various Questions x Thank a lot to Idoya Otegui for the Translations into Spanish - FG 4 Address by UNIMA President, at the UNIMA executive and council meeting in Varadero - Cuba 2014 Dear Puppeteers, colleagues, friends and hosts, It is a great honour and pleasure for UNIMA, to be meeting you all in Cuba. This is the first such large and important meeting for UNIMA in Cuba, and on behalf of our organisation , I thank you all for attending the same, most importantly our hosts for this event :- The Cuban Ministry of Culture Gisela Gonzales, president of the National Council for the Scenic Arts. Mileidy Denis Perez, vice president of the Provincial Assembly of Matanzas. Sandra Jiménez, president of the Provincial Council for the Scenic Arts and president of the Organizing Committee. René Fernandez, president of UNIMA-Cuba. Rubén Darío Salazar, national secretary of UNIMA-Cuba and director of the Matanzas International Festival. All the members of the Cuban Organizing Committee and specially Sorangel Fuentes at the communications department of the CPAE José Gonzalez from Gaviota Tour. Gilberto Guada and Sissi Ubals from Havana Holdings. The directors of the Varadero Plaza America. Before I go any further, let us remember and honour those who have left us in these last few months, above all our previous general Secretary Miguel Arreche, And others namely………. May all the good work they have done for puppetry live on, as a legacy of their commitment to UNIMA and the art of puppetry, may I please request you to stand for a moment of silence in their memory. Since our last Council meeting in Dordrecht - Netherlands, June 2010, UNIMA its national centres, commissions and members have done extraordinary work, at times in most difficult situations but always for the love and respect of the art of puppet theatre. Looking back it was in our council meeting in Atlanta that I had suggested the date 21st March to be celebrated as UNIMA world puppet day. Observing the many celebrations and events all over the world ,one can say this year, that UNIMA world puppet day, just celebrated last month has grown tremendously, people all over the world are now ever more aware of the contributions which puppet artists create in their corners of the globe. As you will see in our General Secretary’s report, the organisation has definitely made strides, both national as well as international, we have many more national centres and representatives then before, thanks to the untiring effort of our general Secretary Jacques Trudeau. Our mammoth project WEPA -world puppet encyclopaedia in English ,will soon see the light of day , thanks to the untiring dedication of a few persons working on the same, thank you to Karen Smith Heesen and her team in the concerned commission, as also the many individuals all over the world who have assisted them. I am proud to say after years of deliberation and discussions, our new site is up and functioning, and I hope that all our members will make good use of the same; here also it is the dedicated effort of a few individuals Raphaèle Fleury , Lothaire Claudel and Fabrice Guilliot. I would like you all to give a big hand to Fabrice who for many years has voluntarily maintained our old site and done everything possible to keep it functioning till the present. 5 To the many heads of our national centres and commissions in UNIMA, many of you again on voluntary bases have been doing your best to function in the larger family of this esteemed organisation, Yes I know the road is not always easy, but it is due to your dedication and constant efforts that many of you have achieved success in your areas, and others…. I’m sure will get there soon as well. I would be happy to see all our national centres functioning in the way they have worded out in their constitutions, there are many that frankly speaking are dormant, and this does injustice to the puppeteers and members of their countries. Having said all this and painted a rosy picture, we all need to look into the situations of traditional puppeteers in our countries. Traditions are also being appropriated into hybrid new traditions, we all need to discuss and give thought and support to the many artists and masters who against an onslaught of new media, continue to carry on their art forms, against many odds; mind you I am not against new media and techniques, however they cannot and must not impose themselves on traditional art forms which are centuries old which change and evolve at a much slower pace. We need to impress in whatever way we can to our authorities, that culture is one of the most important aspects of humanity and brings and should bring people together, rather then divide; of course in our present situations this is more easier said then done, but however there is always a way forward. As councillors it is your duty to carefully follow the discussions and vote accordingly, to take back to your national centres the deliberation’s of this meeting and to start preparing for our Congress in 2016 in San Sebastián - Tolosa. Once again, Wishing you all the best, To a fruitful executive and council meeting and to a great festival in Cuba Thanking you Dadi D.Pudumjee President UNIMA 6 Report of the UNIMA Secretary General for Council in Cuba - April 2014 Dear UNIMA Councillors and members, First of all, I would like to thank sincerely the president of the Cuba National Scenic Arts Council, UNIMA- Cuba and the Cuban Organizing Committee for their incredible hospitality and professionalism. UNIMA is constantly progressing, you will see it in this report. Our association gets new members and acquires more and more notoriety everywhere in the world. UNIMA is actually present in 97 countries, which constitutes an increase of 31 countries since 2008 and 14 since 2012. The members of the new Executive Committee,elected at Chengdu in 2012, are working hard to realize the priority projects established by you the Councillors during the last Congress. It's with tremendous surprise and sadness that we have learned the sudden death of one of us, Miguel Arreche, ex UNIMA Secretary General and new President of the Patrimonial Commission. Here are the list of the members of the Executive Committee and Presidents of Commissions elected in Chengdu: Dadi Pudumjee President Jacques Trudeau Secretary General Manuel Morán First vice-President and President of the North American Commission Annette Dabs Second vice-President