The name of the festival, Teatralny Koufar, can be translated from Belarusian as “theatre chest” or “theatre trunk”. The inaugural festival was held in 2004 under the motto “Traditions. Research. Experimentation” and featured student theatre companies from Belarus, Poland, Israel, and the Netherlands.
In 2012, the International University Theatre Association (AITU – IUTA) chose the Teatralny Koufar International Student Theatre Festival to host the IX World Congress of the International University Theatre Association. The resulting event included a conference, an educational forum, and the festival itself. The congress was attended by the leading professionals from 61 higher educational establishments and 33 countries.
Today, Teatralny Koufar is the only international festival of student theatre in Belarus, as well as one of the most influential youth theatre forums in the Eastern European region. Its team has created a transnational platform where talented young people from around the world can exchange ideas and experiences, showcase the results of their hard work, and plunge into an unforgettable feast of creativity.
Student theatre companies from different countries choose the Teatralky Koufar Festival to showcase their new productions and get feedback from renowned professionals. The festival jury encourages bold approach and creative experiments without diminishing the importance of classical theatre.
Alongside performances, the festival program includes workshops where participants can learn something new from experienced mentors and from each other, as well as a number of special projects:
- MonoK: a showcase of monodrama (solo theatre) pieces.
- Koufar.by: a showcase of Belarusian student theatres.
- Koufar-in-Motion: a performance staged specifically for the festival during just one week and featuring actors from different countries.
- Koufar-to-Stage: a project intended to create a platform for cultural and creative exchange between student theatres from different countries.
- Koufar_Plasticine: an interactive showcase of contemporary art (photography, painting, design, performance, etc.) inspired by the search for plasticity in the city’s frozen shapes.
Photo: theatre-fest.bsu.by
