TYAOslo26
Spaces of Care
17th - 23rd of August 2026
Overview
Since 2022, ASSITEJ Norway has hosted TYAOslo, a biennial performing arts residency dedicated to those working professionally within Theatre and Performing Arts for Young Audiences (TYA). Now returning for its third edition in 2026, TYAOslo continues to provide a week-long space for reflection, creation, and exchange, connecting artists and best practices across borders.
In 2026, the residency explores the theme “Care in Artistic Spaces.” What does it take to create and hold artistic spaces that invite young audiences to dream, reflect, and truly feel seen - especially when engaging with complex or challenging themes?
Care is not understood here as protection from discomfort, but as an active, negotiated practice which involves responsibility and risk, listening, and at times friction. The residency invites artists to question not only how they care for their audiences, but how care shapes form, ethics, power, and artistic freedom.
TYAOslo26 is developed in collaboration with the Nordic-Baltic ASSITEJ Network (NBAN) and reflects the spirit of ASSITEJ International, the global network uniting artists, scholars, and producers who advocate for children’s right to arts and culture.
Residency Participants
We are delighted to invite 16 performing artists from the eight Nordic-Baltic countries to participate in the TYAOslo26 Residency.
The Residency Leader
Vigdís Jakobsdóttir is an Icelandic cultural leader based in Reykjavík, currently serving as Event Manager for Culture in Kópavogur. She is the former Artistic Director and CEO of the Reykjavík Arts Festival (2016–2024).
Across her work as a theatre director, educator, and festival leader, Vigdís has focused on expanding who the arts are for and how artistic encounters are shaped. Her practice centres on meaningful exchange with audiences and on understanding access as a structural and ethical responsibility within artistic work.
Trained as a theatre director, she has directed many productions and worked for over a decade at the National Theatre of Iceland, including as Head of Education and Audience Engagement. She has been involved with ASSITEJ for nearly two decades, serving on its international executive committee from 2011 to 2017, and has led many international workshops and encounters for artists within the ASSITEJ context. Her broader workshop and facilitation practice spans festival leadership and curation, access and inclusion in the arts, and strategic planning, focusing on creating courageous working spaces where practitioners from different fields can experiment with complex and challenging questions.
Photo: Rut Sigurdardottir