The Participating Schools of the 7th UNESCO ITI APB Theatre School Directors' Conference and Theatre Festival took place in Shanghai, China from May 10 to 15.
The event, which was organized by the Shanghai Theatre Academy and the National Academy of Chinese Theatre Arts, featured 18 schools from 14 countries from the Asia-Pacific region, including TNUA from Taiwan.
The conference and festival form a platform for member schools to showcase their achievements to and share their experiences with one another.
The first school directors' conference was held in 2008; at the same time the Asia-Pacific Bureau (APB) was also formed.Since then the annual event has been hosted by member schools in Shanghai, India, Taiwan (TNUA), and Vietnam.
Apart from the school directors' conference, this year also featured stage performances, workshops and academic forums.
TNUA sent a delegation of more than 10 members to the event. Prof. Lee-Zan Chien, dean of the School of Theatre Arts, who led the delegation, said that it was an event where representatives from the member schools got to better understand the theatre activities in the Asia-Pacific region.
They also discussed the possibility and direction of future exchanges between the member schools, Prof. Chien said.
During the school directors' conference, Prof. Chien also announced that TNUA will host World Stage Design 2017. He also proposed that the next conference be held at TNUA.
TNUA's theatre students also presented a play "Laila" (see photo below)at the festival.
The TNUA delegation was also arranged to visit students and teachers of the Shanghai Theatre Academy.