Hosted by Sarah Miller, University of Wollongong GLOBAL SNAPSHOTS

MEET THE HOST

Sarah Miller

Sarah Miller is Professor of Performance and Head: School of the Arts, English and Media, University of Wollongong. She has worked in many capacities in the arts: performer, writer, producer/curator, and artistic and executive director working across the visual, performing, hybrid and new media arts, since starting out as a performance artist in 1983. She was director of the Perth Institute of Contemporary Arts Ltd – PICA (1994 - 2006) and Performance Space, Sydney (1989 – 1993), and remains committed to supporting and promoting the development of contemporary art and artists across art form and discipline boundaries.

She was the recipient of the prestigious 2003 Sidney Myer Performing Arts Facilitator’s Award. Sarah has written extensively about the arts and cultural policy for specialist art journals, magazines, catalogues, and for government, and was co-researcher (with Prof. Elaine Lally) on the publication of the Australia Council commissioned Women and Theatre report (2012). 

MEET THE SPEAKERS

Johanna Tuukkanen (Dance House Helsinki, ANTI - Contemporary Art Festival, Finland)

Johanna Tuukkanen is a curator, programme manager and festival director working in the fields of performance, dance, live and contemporary art. She currently works as the arts programme manager of the Dance House Helsinki, in Finland. Dance House Helsinki is an initiative aiming to build a new facility, the dancehouse, in Helsinki which will open 2020. The Dance House building will be exceptional even by international standards, and will include a unique design and spatial arrangement embracing a wide variety of different genres of dance culture. The Dance House will be an accessible and welcoming gathering place for the public while providing amenities for high quality performances of other art forms. The Dance House will also ease the decades-long, chronic shortage of rehearsal and performance space for dance artists in the metro area. 

Tuukkanen has worked in the fields of art and culture as a choreographer, curator, programmer, performer, writer, journalist and regional artist. She is one of the founders of ANTI – Contemporary Art Festival (Kuopio, Finland) and is currently on leave from her position as the artistic director – senior producer of ANTI.

Tanssin talo ry’s (The Dance house association) mission is to enhance the availability and diversity of high quality dance art and cultural offerings in the metro area, throughout Finland, as well as internationally. Towards this end the group is working to erect a building dedicated solely to dance and performing arts, "The Dance House."

For more information visit www.tanssintalo.fi.

Jong Yeoun Yoon (Ansan Street Arts Festival, South Korea)

Yoon Jong Yeoun is the Artistic Director of Theatre Momggol, a company that uses reclaimed materials in site-specific contexts. He is currently working as President of Korea Street Arts Center, and Artistic Director of Ansan Street Arts Festival, exploring various methods of connection through the street arts.

Established in 2005 in Ansan, South Korea, Ansan Street Arts Festival works with various art forms including street theatre, circus, installation, media performance and sound performance. The main purpose of the festival is to be the platform of presenting and producing the world’s representative street arts by sharing them with the Korean public. Official Program, Fringe Program, City of Clown program and Ansan Street Arts Creator Productions are the very core of the festival. By inviting and co-operating with international and domestic artists and professionals every year, the festival is able to invigorate audiences and stimulate artists to broaden their perspectives.

Anna CY Chan (West Kowloon Cultural District Authority, Hong Kong)

Anna C Y Chan is a practicing administrator, producer, curator and arts educator, and now the Head of Artistic Development (Dance) of the West Kowloon Cultural District Authority. A former professional dancer, Anna continues her artistic contribution as producer and has a strong interest in supporting innovative work and cross-disciplinary collaboration. She has produced numerous dance productions for the International Arts Carnival, Hong Kong Dance Alliance, Hong Kong Ballet Group, Hong Kong Arts Development Council and Hong Kong Dance Festival, and was the organiser and chair of the executive curatorial team of Hong Kong Dance Festival 2006 & 2010.

Anna was one of the keynote speakers at the Dance Symposium: The Future of Contemporary Dance – Connecting Artistic Exploration and the Market Needs organised by the Guangdong Modern Dance Company in 2010.  In 2011, she was invited by the Koelnmessa Pte Ltd as a speaker at LIVE! Singapore 2011 on the topic of “Arts Infrastructure Development: Audience Development through Community Engagement”.  In 2012, she was invited by the Beijing Dance Festival 2012 to speak at the Dance Symposium on the topic of “The Opportunities for Creation and Growth for Young Artists in Asia” and in 2014 to speak on the topic of “Hong Kong Focus”.

Currently Anna serves as Emeritus Chair of the Hong Kong Dance Alliance; Vice-President (East Asia) of the World Dance Alliance Asia Pacific (WDAAP); and Dance Advisor of the Hong Kong Arts Development Council.

Tim Bostock (Kahilu Theatre, Hawaii)

A native of Oxford, England, Tim Bostock has been independently promoting live arts events for over 30 years, 15 of these based in Honolulu. He ran the Live from the Lawn concerts at the Hawaii State Art Museum for six years and the Honolulu downtown street festivals (Mardi Gras, Cinco de Mayo etc) for many years as a founding partner of The ARTS at Marks Garage. Now a resident at Waikii Ranch with his family, Tim restarted the Waikii Music Festival, before joining the Kahilu Theatre as its Artistic Director in 2013.

Tim has brought many New Zealander and Australian artists to Hawaii over the years, among them Taki Rua Productions, Bangarra Dance Theatre, Flying Fruit Fly Circus, Te Vaka, Maisey Rika, Circus Oz, Circa! and Descendance, in addition to international talents such as Mariza, Celia Cruz, Marcel Marceau, Slava’s Snowshow, Sweet Honey in the Rock, Afro-Cuban All Stars and Ladysmith Black Mambazo to name a few.  

The Kahilu Theatre is a 490 seat playhouse, also incorporating two galleries and the 80 seat Luce Studio. It was built in 1980, and has recently been renovated. The Theatre presents a robust visiting artists program, produces  high quality youth and community shows and is available for community rentals. It is situated in upcountry rural Waimea on the ‘Big island’ of Hawaii.  Kahilu also offers significant education programs, providing after school arts classes for over 200 children a week, running summer camps in circus arts, hip hop, Hawaiian bluegrass and musical theatre, and offering over 20 youth shows a year to almost 10,000 kids.

Thomas Kriegsmann (New York Live Arts, USA)

Currently serving as Director of Programs for New York Live Arts and Founding Director of ArKtype, Kriegsmann is a curator, producer and manager of acclaimed international projects and tours.

ArKtype’s work has been seen worldwide, including projects with Mikhail Baryshnikov, Peter Sellars, Yael Farber, Peter Brook, Jay Scheib, Julie Taymor, Yaron Lifschitz, Annie-B Parson & Paul Lazar, Dmitry Krymov and Victoria Thiérrée-Chaplin. Recent premieres include Big Dance Theater & Baryshnikov Productions’ MAN IN A CASE, the off-Broadway run of Nalaga’at Deaf-Blind Theater’s NOT BY BREAD ALONE, Sam Green’s THE MEASURE OF ALL THINGS, Andrew Ondrejcak & Shara Worden’s YOU US WE ALL, Jay Scheib’s PLATONOV, or THE DISINHERITED plus Live Cinema Performance Simulcasts, Phantom Limb’s 69°S. and Dayna Hanson’s THE CLAY DUKE.

For three seasons he produced the Ringling International Arts Festival in Sarasota, FL. Additional projects include 600 Highwaymen; Rude Mechs; Theatre for a New Audience; Byron Au Yong & Aaron Jafferis; Mikel Rouse & Ben Neill; Big Dance Theater; Jessica Blank & Erik Jensen; Circa; Lisa Peterson & Denis O’Hare; Compagnia T.P.O.; Sam Green / yMusic & Yo La Tengo; and Peter Sellars & Regg Roc’s FLEXN.

Upcoming premieres include Byron Au Yong & Aaron Jafferis’ TRIGGER, Andrew Ondrejcak’s ELIJAH GREEN with John Jasperse, and Jessica Blank & Erik Jensen’s HOW TO BE A ROCK CRITIC.

More information at www.arktype.org and www.newyorklivearts.org.

Po-Chieh Chen (National Taichung Theatre, Taiwan)

Po-Chieh Chen currently serves as Producing Associate (Programs & General Planning) of the National Taichung Theater, National Performing Arts Center (Taiwan). She received her BFA in Dance from Purchase College, State University of New York in 2002, and was awarded the highest honour of Chancellor Award and Bert Terborgh Dance Award. After her graduation, she was invited to join Elisa Monte Dance (New York) as professional dancer, performing in the USA and on European tours with the company.

As a professional dancer, Chen also discovered her passion for arts management, and returned to Taiwan to join Cloud Gate 2 (Cloud Gate Cultural and Arts Foundation) as project coordinator in 2004, before joining Performing Arts Alliance (PAA) as Project Manager in 2009.

Since 2009, Chen’s professional focuses at PAA are mainly festival and event planning and international development. She participated in the planning and operation of the Opening and Closing Ceremony of Deaflympics Taipei 2009, programmed for the domestic and international performances of 2010 Taipei Flora Expo, and was project leader/producer for 2010-2013 Huashan Living Arts Festival (Founded by Ministry of Culture, Taiwan), and Taiwan Focus-Performing Arts Showcase (Taipei/Kaohsiung) from 2010-2014. In 2014, she also initiated the international project – Taiwan Performing Arts Connection (TPAC) to establish global networks and partnerships with overseas performing arts professionals and institutions.

Jade Lillie (Footscray Community Arts Centre, Australia)

Jade is a passionate and experienced community engaged practitioner, educator and facilitator. Since 2012, she has been the Director and CEO at Australia’s leading community engaged, contemporary arts centre, Footscray Community Arts Centre (FCAC).

Now based in Melbourne, Jade has lived and worked across Australia in Queensland, Victoria and the Northern Territory, and throughout South-East Asia, particularly Thailand and Indonesia.  Her 2011-12 research in reciprocity and collaboration between Australian and SE Asian organisations, agencies and artists is the basis for initiative, Collaborate Asia, delivered by FCAC. 

Jade has developed her practice and philosophy around the belief that arts and cultural development, underpinned by sound engagement and social justice frameworks, are tools for social and systemic change. Jade’s areas of expertise are broad, but her practice is deeply specific to community and context.

Having held a range of executive positions in government and non-government agencies, she is a strong advocate for communities, inclusive arts and cultural programming, and policymaking across these contexts.  

As a consultant, and working through FCAC, Jade also delivers a range of arts management, strategic planning, community engagement and cultural leadership training, facilitation and professional development. 

The unique cross art-form mode of program development and delivery, and complex partnerships structure of contemporary community engaged practice, gives Jade’s skill set relevance to the wider social and political context, and as such, Jade works extensively with health, education and community organisations in Australia, as well as maintaining national and international networks.

Jade has been the recipient of the prestigious Australia Council Kirk Robson Award (2009) for cultural leadership and was an Asialink Arts Manager Resident in Thailand (2010). Jade is a Board Director for Western Melbourne Tourism. 

Kristof Blom (CAMPO, Belgium)

Kristof Blom studied performing arts at the University of Gent in Belgium. He worked until 2001 as a freelance dramaturge for different companies and artists such as Toneelhuis Antwerpen, Victoria and Het Paleis. From 2001 to 2007 he was in charge of international relations for the production house Victoria and in 2008 he joined CAMPO, a new arts centre in Gent that combines a presentation, research and production platform. In 2011 he became Artistic Director of CAMPO.

The Ghent-based arts centre CAMPO presents a diverse program, ranging from theatre, dance and performance to festivals, neighbourhood kitchens and debates. Apart from touring with home-made productions, CAMPO also support artists in their creative processes.

József Kardos (Sziget, Hungary)

Despite his Forest Engineer qualification József Kardos has worked in the field of cultural event organization throughout his whole professional career. Thanks to the work of the past 25 years his network is extremely widespread internationally. Between 1999 and 2009 he was the Program Director of Sziget Festival. In 2009 and 2010 he was the Program Director of the Pécs2010 European Capital of Culture project. When Hungary took over the EU Presidency in 2011 József Kardos participated in the organization of joint cultural events. In this context, he was the initiator and organizer of the guest performance of the Tanztheater Wuppertal - Pina Bausch in Hungary.

As a curator he was involved in the organization of the Hungarian Cultural Seasons in France, Italy and the Netherlands. In 2013 and 2014 he was Cultural Manager at the Ludwig Museum - Museum of Contemporary Arts. In the end of 2014 he returned to the Sziget Festival and got his previous position as Program Director of the Festival back. Sziget Festival is one of the largest music festivals in Europe, which welcomes more than 400 thousand visitors every year. In addition to music the festival is giving great emphasis on performing art programs as well under the direction of József.

He is primarily interested in contemporary dance, circus, and street theater. József is very sensitive and active in fighting for human rights, minority rights and he is against racism, xenophobia and homophobia. Here are some Australian companies with whom he has already collaborated with: Snuff Puppets, Strange Fruits, State Opera of Australia, PopEyed, Mikelangelo and the Black Sea Gentlemen, Aboriginal Dance Company, La Clique, CIRCA, Feetbus, Kinetic Theatre Company, The Leaping Loonies, Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, Natalie Imbruglia, Resin Dogs, Pendulum Live, Nervo, Knife Party etc.