Date of creation: 1981
Section francophone du Centre belge de l’UNIMA asbl
Rue de l’Ecole, 14
1480 Tubize (Saintes)
B4820
DISON
Belgium
+32 (0)8 733 83 17
+32 (0)8 733 83 17
www.facebook.com/Unima-Belgium-313694792135/
Presentation
Brief history
The Belgian Centre began with the creation of a Flemish section (Vlaams Verbond voor Poppenspel) in 1962 and a French-speaking section in 1971. The Belgian Centre, with Hubert Roman as one of its founders, had a function more administrative than concrete. Its two sections were largely autonomous, participating separately at the Congresses under the names “French-speaking Belgium” and “Flemish Belgium”. In 2005, under the presidency of Ronny Aelbrecht, the Belgium Centre has federated the two sections and stimulated meetings between friends of puppetry from the three Belgian speech communities.
Important projects and achievements
In 1930 an UNIMA World Congress was held in Liège. Each year since 2006 the Belgian Centre has organized the “Belgian Centre Day” in Flanders and Wallonia, including members of all the sections and shows in the three national languages. A directory of Belgian puppet theaters has been published. Each section distributes publications: “Marionnettes en Castelet”(French), “Op&doek, Nieuwsbrief OPENDOEK figurentheater”, “Nieuwsbrief Het Firmament” and “Nieuwsbrief EFTC” (Flemish). The French-speaking section organizes every 3 years “Bouquet de la Marionnette”, a showcase of performances proposed by the members, and the Flemish section is involved in several festivals: in Beveren, Lier, Oostende, Roeselare, Turnhout and “Het koninklijk Landjuweel” in Gent. Each section manages a documentation center.
