Date: 8-11 October, 2009

Venue: Menų spaustuvė

Organisers: Menų spaustuvė, International Theatre Festival Sirenos (www.sirenos.lt) and Vilnius – European Capital of Culture 2009 (www.culturelive.lt). The meeting will be organised in collaboration with Lithuanian Dance Information Centre, Vilniaus festivaliai, theatre studio Meno fortas.

IETM (Informal European Theatre Meeting - www.ietm.org) is a membership organisation which exists to stimulate the quality, development and contexts of contemporary performing arts in a global environment, by initiating and facilitating professional networking and communication, the dynamic exchange of information, know-how transfer and presentations of examples of good practice. 


A plenary meeting is the main IETM network meeting organised twice a year (spring and autumn) in different cities, bringing together +/- 500 professionals to exchange ideas in an informal way and build closer relations with various partners/members. It normally includes around 25 working sessions and a full performance platform of work from the host country or city.

IETM Autumn Plenary Meeting in Vilnius puts a new point on IETM meetings map. East is the direction. East, which became very sexy two decades ago, right after the Berlin Wall came down. East, which started losing its glamour as the iron curtain sank into the history.

The meeting in Vilnius will deal with Eastern Promises on one hand and Western expectations on the other. It will explore the new colonisations of all sorts, going from the East to the West and vice versa; and the territories culture and art has colonized in our own societies.

With the help of International Theatre Festival Sirenos, the meeting will present the rich tradition of the Lithuanian theatre, starting with the great masters of metaphor and rebellion, and finishing with new names and trends on the Lithuanian performing arts scene. Lithuanian Dance Information Centre has been involved in creating a programme representing national contemporary dance panorama, which will also be presented for meeting participants. Apart from Lithuanian arts, a platform for Latvian and Estonian showcases will be given space.