Address by Mrs. Hayet Ketat Guermazi, Minister of Cultural Affairs, on the occasion of the opening of the 24th edition of the Carthage Theater Festival:
In this global period marked by significant humanitarian challenges, as our Palestinian brothers endure various forms of injustice and abuse, the 24th edition of the Carthage Theater Festival (JTC) unfolds with simplicity, devoid of the usual splendor during opening and closing ceremonies. Nonetheless, it remains infused with fundamental values: justice against injustice, the cultivation of life and enlightened thought against the culture of death and obscurantism. These values, rooted in the journey and currents of Tunisian theatre, place at their core universal principles and the diversity of human nature.
Reflecting the history and values of Tunisian theatre, this edition of the JTC has adopted the slogan “With Theatre, We Live… With Art, We Resist.” This slogan emphasizes the intrinsic connection between life, art, and resistance—an organic symbiosis inherent in theatrical performance itself. Theatre stands as a defender of just causes, foremost among them being the Palestinian cause.
This edition coincides with the celebration of the 40th anniversary of the National Theatre (1983), a year symbolizing wisdom and maturity. It offers an opportunity to showcase accumulated experiences and the various schools that have contributed to shaping creations that significantly impacted and enriched Tunisian theatre, both in the African continent and in the Arab world.
Tunisian theatre, steeped in its rich past, extends its embrace to the world while projecting towards the future. It carries a vision that is continually renewed, as reflected in the programming of JTC 2024. This edition will feature a diverse array of performances, conferences, and workshops. Additionally, it will inaugurate the first theatre market, aiming to promote theatrical production and track the developments of theatre worldwide.
In conclusion, I hope that the audience will find in the 60 performances offered by artists from 28 countries an answer to their aesthetic and intellectual quests. I extend a warm welcome to the men and women of theatre gathering on the soil of our beloved Tunisia, a land of creation, art, and promotion of universal values. The fourth art remains a vital component that we endeavor to integrate and uphold within this esteemed cultural heritage.
This year, the 24th edition of the Carthage Theater Festival holds significant importance as it commemorates the 40th anniversary of the National Theatre. It’s an opportunity to highlight the pivotal role of theatre as the ultimate living expression of people’s hardships and aspirations. It’s also a moment to spotlight the voices of men and women in theatre, particularly during these challenging times overshadowed by the war inflicted upon the Palestinian people.
Celebrating theatre as a reflection of life in all its facets, the JTC stands as an eagerly anticipated annual event for enthusiasts of the fourth art—an opportunity to immerse oneself in plays from around the globe. It’s not merely a celebration of life; it serves as a platform to amplify the voices of the oppressed and those dwelling in the shadows, whose cries often go unheard.
Since its inception, the National Establishment for the Promotion of Festivals and Cultural and Artistic Events (NEPFCAE), as the organizer of the JTC, has remained committed to nurturing a festival where theatre transcends mere entertainment; embodying an act of resistance and a vibrant expression of just struggles.
In line with the concerns of the entire Arab populace, this edition focuses special attention on Palestine, evident in the festival’s visual identity and through the theatrical pieces that unveil on stage the injustices faced by the Palestinian people, while conveying their hopes for a brighter future.
From December 2nd to 10th, 2023, a diverse and deeply committed program will come to life, resonating perfectly with the very essence of theatrical creation. These days will resound as a call for engagement, reflection, and solidarity with universal causes.
Together, through workshops, conferences, and performances, we will continue to make theatre a genuine act of resistance, a beacon of hope, and a mirror reflecting our societies in pursuit of justice and peace.
Hend Mokrani, General Director of the National Establishment for the Promotion of Festivals and Cultural and Artistic Events (NEPFCAE)
The Carthage Theater Festival in its fortieth year: the edition soaring towards the international.
The fortieth anniversary… Forty years of packed theaters with an audience pulsating for a theatre rich in its diversity. An audience that passionately testifies with each session to theatrical expressions marked by artistic exploration, infused with human values, in an everlasting quest for perfect harmony beyond differences and divergences.
Forty years have elapsed, shaping the poignant saga of the Carthage Theater Festival—an artistic saga indeed, but fundamentally a human one. Since its inception, it has evolved into a convergence point for the fourth art in its Arab and African dimensions, embracing a pluralistic world—a hub for creation, discovery, and exploration.
Although steeped in this legacy and firmly rooted in its history, the 24th edition of the JTC will be marked by a certain bitterness, that of an edition proud to have reached the pinnacle of its maturity, entwined with profound pain and immense concern.
Theatre, this art, which since its genesis has been imbued with resistance, struggle, bearing the scars of a wounded humanity, will reveal itself in this edition even stronger, more relevant, more engaged for human and universal causes.
This 24th session will unequivocally stand in solidarity with the Palestinian people in their struggle for legitimate rights: the right to freedom, independence, dignity… to life.
For this exceptional edition, artists from Africa, the Arab world, and beyond will flock in large numbers to further testify that theatre, be it tragic or comic, is the vanguard of humanism, freedom, peace, and dignity—an unyielding defense against extremism, subjugation, and discrimination.
Forty years on, the Carthage Theater Festival asserts more than ever its commitment to its Arab-African dimension, sanctifying distant experiences, thereby composing the perfect mosaic of human art in all its forms.
It is with a wounded heart and a saddened soul, facing the spectacle of horror that we witness every moment, that artists from across the globe gathered on the stages of the JTC will inscribe, through words, body, and spirit, the history of an art that bears life and hope..
Moez Mrabet
Director of the 24th edition of the Carthage Theater Festival
