ASSITEJ International awarded Zoja Mikotová the Lifetime Achievement Award 2024
The ASSITEJ International Lifetime Achievement Award, recognizing a long-term contribution in the field of theatre for children and young people, was presented to Zoja Mikotová for her authorial and directorial work in theatre for children and young people, for her long-term efforts to connect the worlds of the Deaf and hearing and for many years of creative approaches to theatre for children and young people and tireless searching for open theatrical communication with an emphasis on movement, humour and musicality.
“It is a pleasure to receive an award for something what you have been doing with love and believing that it has a meaning. With the conviction that it is necessary and useful. Greetings to all those who work for the mental and especially emotional development of children and young people, hearing and Deaf, in short everyone!“, says Zoja Mikotová.
Professor Zoja Mikotová, MA is an important Czech director and lecturer in higher education. For thirty years, she led the Studio of Educational Theatre for the Deaf (Ateliér výchovné dramatiky pro neslyšící)at the Janáček Academy of Performing Arts (JAMU) in Brno, where she created a unique environment for the development and education of young people. She applies her creative approach to theatre for children and young people not only in direct contact with young audiences, but also through inspiring and systematic educational activities with the youngest actors. Zoja Mikotová’s work not only “opens the world of children to adults and the world of adults to children,” but also connects the world of the Deaf to the world of the hearing and the world of the hearing to the world of the Deaf. This work begins in the audience’s early childhood and the early youth of the performers. As a director, she has created many productions of high artistic quality, which have left a deep impression on Czech theatre, and, above all, have positively shaped the aesthetics and value perceptions of children and adolescents.
She has consistently focused on authorial, directorial and organisational work in the field of theatre for children and young people. She is the founder and guiding light of the Studio of Educational Theatre for the Deaf at JAMU, where she prepares young people with hearing impairments to fully participate in life as university graduates. She is the author or co-author of over forty plays and scripts (of these, over twenty are for the hearing impaired) which have been presented in over thirty productions. She has directed over 100 productions in many theatres in the Czech Republic. She lectures at conferences, leads creative workshops, and focuses on the topic of Theatre of the Deaf.
In 1994, she completed a residency at Gallaudet University in Washington, DC (the world’s only university for the Deaf). She has directed at many theatres in the Czech Republic and abroad, including in Slovakia, Poland, Austria, Germany and Japan. As a choreographer, she has worked in Hungary, Poland, Germany, Austria and France. She has participated in many festivals and led workshops with students and graduates of the Studio of Educational Theatre for the Deaf. In 2004, Mikotová was awarded the Czech ASSITEJ Centre’s Annual Prize. In 2006, she received the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports medal (second degree) for her artistic and pedagogical activities. In 2007, she was awarded JAMU’s Gold Medal. In 2018, she was the recipient of the City of Brno’s 2017 Prize in the field of dramatic arts and, in 2019, the Brno Union of the Deaf’s Prize for personal contributions to the Deaf. In 2022, she received the Ministry of Culture of the Czech Republic’s Award for contributions to the field of theatre, for the development of a personal aesthetic of poetic theatre grounded in movement, humour and musicality, and for artistic and pedagogical efforts to connect the worlds of the Deaf and hearing.
The award was presented on 28 May during the 21st ASSITEJ World Congress and the Festival of Performing Arts for Children and Youth in Havana, it was accepted by it was accepted by Zuzana Sikačová and Karola Štěpánová, members of the Czech ASSITEJ Centre Committee.
Watch the Czech ASSITEJ Centre NOMINATION VIDEO and THANK YOU VIDEO with subtitles.