KOPERGIETERY is a creative venue for young people,
focusing on drama, dance and music.
A house where children and young adults are confronted with art.
A house where artists and children create together and inspire one another.
A house that puts on performances, invites guest performers and organizes drama workshops.
We operate from our hometown of Ghent.
Our main venue with rehearsal rooms & offices are in the Sluizeken-Tolhuis-Ham district: KG Blekerij (currently under renovation, we are temporarily housed in Het Pand!). Our second venue is in the Rabot district: KG Rabot, a shared space with the local school Mandala. We organise theatre workshops at both venues.
KOPERGIETERY mission statement
KOPERGIETERY puts children first
We are an open-house venue where the performing arts for and by children and young people take centre stage. A place where every child can experience culture. We focus on the child’s ‘own voice’ and recognise and value their full artistic contribution.
KOPERGIETERY embraces art
KOPERGIETERY creates, presents and hosts numerous artists and a diverse range of art forms. We work locally – based in Ghent – as well as nationally and internationally, in constant dialogue with a changing world. Our venue is a meeting place that facilitates inspiring exchanges between artists and the public.
KOPERGIETERY is committed to development
Our theatre offers a warm and welcoming home that supports and prioritises the development of both children and artists. In a self-critical, open and tolerant environment, we give everyone the space to experiment.
KOPERGIETERY is looking to the future
We explore innovative art forms in which knowledge and innovation come together.
KOPERGIETERY CREATES, TRAVELS & INVITES
Every season, KOPERGIETERY creates three to four new productions for various age groups, with which we tour both at home and abroad. We always work with a team of professional creators and performers, and regularly collaborate with children or young people from our theatre workshops.
For our productions, we regularly enter into partnerships with other companies or theatres, both at home and abroad. (Inter)national collaboration has been an essential part of KOPERGIETERY’s artistic practice for many years, enabling the company to boast an extensive international network of festivals and cultural centres.
As a presenting theatre, we also invite guest companies to Ghent every year. From the wide range of art forms on offer, we select challenging, contemporary work by both experienced and emerging artists.
KOPERGIETERY’s original productions are characterised by a high degree of authenticity. The creators rarely draw on existing text; they create from within themselves, seeking their own words, their own images, their own language.
KOPERGIETERY also invests in young creators: they are given a platform to create their first production, and often go on to set up their own theatre companies or join other theatre organisations.
KOPERGIETERY Drama workshops
The workshops (ateliers) are the heart of KOPERGIETERY. Every season, approximately 150 children and young people aged 8 to 18 work weekly with a professional teacher/artist. In addition to these weekly working sessions, we organize workshops during holidays and regularly set up drama projects. Some projects develop into full-fledged, touring productions. Within the ateliers, we do not work with a 'method'. Ateliers are workplaces where child and teacher work together in a vibrant and nurturing process.
Read all about our drama workshops HERE!
Het Medialab
At KOPERGIETERY, we explore how new technology can find a place in everything we do: from our performances and theatre workshops to our work for schools and the public. We group all projects or initiatives we develop in this area under the term 'Het Medialab'.
With ‘Het Medialab’, we work at the intersection of technology, media, and science on the one hand, and performing arts on the other. To get a grip on the rapid development of technology and its impact on society, we take matters into our own hands and learn by doing.
We organize FESTIVALDIGITAL, the festival where performing arts and technology meet. We create stage performances in which technology plays a leading role, such as ‘PRESS Play’ and ‘CODE♥’. We set up media workshops with a focus on technology, host lectures and masterclasses, and collaborate with creative tech partners or maker communities, where new ideas can grow into concrete projects.
MEDIALAB COORDINATOR
Ilja Van Autreve
ilja@kopergietery.be
History of the theatre house
KOPERGIETERY came into existence in 1978 with the founding of Speelteater Gent by Eva Bal (1938-2021). Speelteater Gent was a place for talent on the edge of the nest, an open house for young art where theatre for and by young people takes center stage.
The theatre not only produced performances for young audiences, but also organized weekly theatre workshops with children and young people. Eva based her work on the children’s ‘own voice’ and their conviction in their own artistry; a highly innovative approach. For fifteen years, the company searched for a suitable place to settle down. In 1993, this nest was found, and a year later, Speelteater Gent moved into an abandoned factory space: De Kopergietery. The name refers to the original purpose of the building, which is over 100 years old: until 1945, it was a factory where copper was cast.
With the opening in March 1994, the dreamed-of receptive pillar could finally be realized: inviting other theatre companies from the domestic and international (youth) theatre circuit. In 2001, Speelteater Gent/de Kopergietery officially received a new name: KOPERGIETERY. In 2004, Eva Bal handed over the artistic direction to Johan De Smet.
September 2009 betekent een nieuwe mijlpaal in de werking van KOPERGIETERY. Op vraag van Stad Gent engageert KOPERGIETERY zich als culturele partner in de wijk Rabot, een superdiverse wijk in de stad. The second creation and play platform, KOPERGIETERY RABOT, opens its doors. From here, KOPERGIETERY involves the young residents of this Ghent neighborhood in its theater activities, primarily by setting up theater workshops for children from the neighborhood, the Rabotateliers, establishing neighborhood-oriented projects, and organizing film screenings under the name CinéRABOT.
The friends of KOPERGIETERY
In 2016, 'The Friends of KOPERGIETERY' was founded, an open, flexible structure of supporters operating under the umbrella of its own activities. The Friends of KOPERGIETERY support KOPERGIETERY's mission to enable all children to participate in our activities, whether as audience members or as creators.
The financial contributions of its members are primarily used for (KOPERGIETERY) projects aimed at children who have limited or no opportunity to participate in art themselves. Anyone can become a friend, including companies or organizations. You can find all information and possible membership options HERE.
KOPERGIETERY engagement
KOPERGIETERY is a member of Greentrack Gent, the think tank and action group of the Ghent cultural sector that builds a sustainable future through exchange and experimentation. Greentrack is now embedded in the Ghent Arts Council: GKO.
Met het interne reglement ‘Fair Practice’ sluit KOPERGIETERY zich aan bij de eerlijke principes en afspraken voor samenwerkingen in de kunstensector zoals geformuleerd op Juist is Juist.
KOPERGIETERY also subscribes to the 10 dimensions of good governance with comprehensive internal regulations and an accompanying mandate schedule. KOPERGIETERY has added an appendix to the employment regulations regarding integrity and inappropriate behavior. These procedures contribute to the well-being of employees and complement the general approach to managing psychosocial risks.