National School of Drama Director Waman Kendre has been elected as the new president of the Asia Pacific Bureau (APB) of Theatre for a term of one year with immediate effect.
The decision was taken unanimously by the directors of the participating drama schools from Asia Pacific region yesterday as the seven-day long meet of the drama schools from across the globe came to an end here, an official release said.
According to the statement, Kendre was made the Vice President - Asian Affairs (2016-17) only few months ago at the GATS General Conference in Lima, Peru.
The newly appointed President said that his aim will be to increase the number of member countries in the body, besides establishing a students' forum for greater interaction.
"At present, we have 24 member nations in Asia Pacific. My agenda would be to include more countries in the group, to further strengthen performing arts. We need to reach out to more people in the world and share our knowledge," he told PTI.
He also plans to introduce the concept of collaborative productions that will feature at least one actor from each of the member nations in the Asia-Pacific region.
"This will be a first of its kind attempt. We will ensure that these productions travel to all drama schools in the region," he said, adding that the first production would be held in NSD here.
The directors on the decision-making panel included Mohammad Israfil (Department of Theatre and Performance Studies, University of Dhaka, Bangladesh), A S Hardy Bin Safi (School of the Arts, University Sains, Malaysia), Minden Penange, Malaysia), Amanda Morris (Lasalle College of the Arts, Singapore), KO Hessun (Korea National University of Arts, South Korea), Ricardo Abad (Ateno De Manilam, Philippines), Masako Ito (Miyazaki) (TOHO Gauken College of Drama and Music, Tokyo, Japan) and Farindokht Zahedi (University of Tehran, Iran).
Kendre will retain the top post until the body's next meet in Beijing, China in September next year.
APB, which is a statutory body registered with the UNESCO, was also renamed as Asia-Pacific Bond of Theatre School in the same meet, a move, that the statement said, would signify closer ties between the member nations.
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