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In 1955 the British Society for
Theatre Research took the initiative in calling an international
conference to which delegates from twenty-one countries responded,
including, from outside Western Europe, Japan, the Russia, Poland,
Czechoslovakia and (attending as an observer) Yugoslavia: the decisions
which emerged during the discussions: held between 17 and 23 July at the
British Academy in London were to lead to the creation of the IFTR.
This was a remarkable step; researchers from all over the world with an
interest in the history or theory of the theatre, who had previously
been working in isolation and with little recognition from institutes of
higher education, had taken the decision to collaborate together, to
exchange information and discuss common problems and methodology - in
short, to estabish an international base for the development of the
relatively new discipline of theatre studies.
A provisional Executive Committee was formed, composed of Ifan Kyrte
Fletcher (Great Britain), Giorgio Brunacci (Italy), Rose-Marie
Moudouès (France), Edmund Stadler (Switzerland) and Andre
Veinstein (France), who represented SIBMAS (International Society of
Libraries and Museums of Performing Arts), founded at Zagreb in
1954. This Committee met in Berne in 1956 and, in collaboration with the
Centro di Ricerche teatrali, Rome, organised a second conference which
took place in July 1957 at the Cini Foundation in Venice, with the
participation of seventeen countries. Here the IFTR was formaly
established and drew up a Constitutlon with the following aims
(essentialy unchanged throughout the history of IFTR):
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| 1. |
to promote in all countries,
international liaison between organisations and individuals devoted to
theatre research;
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| 2. |
to assist in organising societies for
theatre research;
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| 3. |
to organise international conferences
and sypmposia;
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| 4. |
to encourage interdisciplinary
studies involving theatre research by promoting appropriate relations
with other research organisations and institutes;
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to obtain facilities in
libraries, museums, etc, for theatre research workers of all
countries;
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to submit to the authorities of all
countries the desirability of creating and maintaining courses,
institutes and chairs of theatre research;
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| 7. |
to assist members to obtain grants
for their work from foundations, trusts and other grant-making
bodies;
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| 8. |
to facilitate the wide distribution
of works of scholarship, technical works, and any important popular
works in the field of theatre research, and to encourage an interest in
the subject by means of books, periodicals, radio and television
programmes, and other methods of communicating and storing information;
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to organise and facilitate
exhibitions devoted to theatre research;
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to undertake and to encourage its
members to collaborate in undertaking works of international theatre
research;
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to aid in every way all
other projects to foster theatre research in all countries.
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True to its spirit as a
non-governmental organisation, the IFTR has always sought to enable
scholars to work together irrespective of the political systems of their
countries; its artistic and intellectual concerns have always had a
world-wide scope. The Federation is an association confirming to
articles 60 - 79 of the Swiss Civil Code and has its headquarters in
Berne, Switzerland; its official languages are English and French.
The President of the Federation is elected to serve for four years and
is supported by two Joint Secretaries General (one dealing with the
Federation's business through the French language, the other through
English) and a Treasurer. The officers are answerable to an Executive
Committee of around fifteen members, which meets at least once a year. A
General Assembly consisting of all members of the Federation meets at
least once every four years. Each institutional member shall have five
votes, each individual member shall have one vote. The General Assembly
establishes the broad outlines of the International Federation's policy,
ratifies its accounts and has final control over the Federation's
Constitution.
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The following deserve mention in this
brief account:
the Federation's Journal, which has appeared three times a year since
1959, first under the title Theatre Research / Recherches
Théâtrales, with articles in French and English, and more
recently under the title Theatre Research International, published in English (with brief summaries of
articles in French);
the active part played by the Federation in the establishment of theatre
research as a recognised university discipline;
the work in progress on the publication of
The World Encyclopaedia of Contemporary Theatre, a major project
which will include some five volumes of history and analysis of the
theatre since 1945, compiled on a world-wide basis. The first volumes
have already appeared, but further finance for its completion is
required.
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CONFERENCES AND COLLOQUIA
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| 1. |
Every four years the Federation
organises a World Congress, a major international event in which, in
addition to the usual conference activities, supplemented by a programme
of theatre visits, the Federation takes the opportunity, through its
General Assembly, to take stock of its recent achievements and consider
its policy for the future.
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In the years between the World
Congresses, minor conferences, built around a specific theme, are
organised by one of the institutions active in the Federation's
Membership: the 2001 Conference was held in Sydney, Australia, on the
theme "Trans-actions: Culture and Performance".
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As of 2004 the membership of the International Federation has four categories:
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| a) |
Institutional Members including University Departments or Institutes, Libraries, Museums and other organizations which include theatre research in their activities, and which provide a link between the Federation and individual scholars. The annual subscription has been fixed at SFr 250 / € 165.
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Individual Members: research workers and
supporters of the work of the Federation. Annual subscription has been
fixed at SFr 100 / € 65.
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Student
Members with a subscription to TRI. Annual subscription has been fixed at SFr 40 / € 25.
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Student
Members without a subscription to TRI. Annual subscription has been fixed at SFr 15 / € 10.
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The benefits of membership include the right to attend all conferences and meetings organized by the Federation and to receive the journal Theatre Research International (with the exception of the fourth category).
In 1997 the IFTR had a membership of 389, of whom 69 were Institutional
Members and 320 Individual Members. 41 separate countries were
represented in the Federation. In 2001 we have at the moment a total of
400, from 40 countries. Of this 306 are individual, 72 are
institutional, 12 associate, 4 student and 7 honorary. They are from 40
different countries.
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The number of countries anxious to participate in the work of the Federation, and make their distinctive contribution to the study of theatre in all its manifestations, is continually increasing. From beginnings which were inevitably "eurocentric" the IFTR has become truly international, with delegates attending recent conferences from Russia, Cameroon, Israel, Japan, Australia and the Philippines as well as all parts of Europe and North America. These developments open new challenges and opportunities for theatre research and emphasise the need for comparative studies, involving collaboration with other disciplines such as sociology, anthropology and psychology.
APPEAL: It has now become vital that the IFTR should increase its revenues: the "rich" countries must increase their membership and by so doing demonstrate their support for the poorer countries. It is vital that the IFTR should find the financial means to enable theatre researchers from the entire World to attend its Conferences and Congresses and to benefit from their contributions.
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Membership Secretary:
Henriette Bitter
Department of Theatre Studies
University of Amsterdam
Nieuwe Doelenstraat 16
1012 CP Amsterdam
The Netherlands
Fax. +31-(0)20-5252938 |
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Josette Féral, Montréal/Canada (1999) |
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Erika Fischer-Lichte, Mainz/Berlin (1995) |
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Willmar Sauter, Stockholm (1991) |
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Wolfgang Greisenegger, Wien (1987) |
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William Green, New York (1983) |
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Rolf Rohmer, Leipzig (1979) |
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James A. Arnott, Glasgow (1975) |
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Kalan Filip Kumbatovic, Ljubliana (1971) |
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Frantisek Cerny, Praha (1967) |
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Frithjof W.S. van Thienen, Amsterdam (1963) |
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Alois M. Nagler, New Haven (1959) |
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Ifan Kyrle Fletcher, London (1955) |
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