GLOBAL SNAPSHOTS: FESTIVAL EDITION

Cathie Boyd

An internationally respected director, producer and curator known for her ability to inspire others and her strong leadership of creative endeavour. With over 25 years of experience, Cathie is able to work across art forms: from opera to music; visual arts and film whilst being able to work at a strategic and practical level, often working in new and unusual ways to achieve goals.

Raised in Belfast, Ireland, Cathie graduated from the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, and set up Cryptic in 1994 with the desire to create innovative performances that would ‘ravish the senses’ of international audiences. Her many years of artistic practice include numerous international commissions and collaborations which have been presented in over 25 countries.

Cathie has been instrumental in providing a key platform for artists around the world by creating the Sonica Festival in 2012. She also has much experience in working with new technologies for performance and was made a Fellow of NESTA in 2002 to develop the visual staging of live music.

Awards include European Woman of Achievement for the Arts, Outstanding Young Person Award, Junior Chambers of Commerce and an Edinburgh Festival Fringe First. Cathie also serves as Vice President on the Board of IETM (international network for contemporary performing arts).

Francesc Casadesus

Karoline Trollvik

Karoline Trollvik (1988) is the current Festival Director of Riddu Riđđu Festivála, an international indigenous arts and culture festival hosted each summer since 1991 in the coastal Sami community Olmmáivággi (Manndalen) in Gáivuotna (Kåfjord) municipality in Norway.

She was born and raised in Gáivuotna, gained a Master’s degree in Anthropology of Development at the University of Bergen where she focused on contemporary indigenous identities in relation to her fieldworks on Taiwan. After her studies she returned home to Gáivuotna for the position as Festival Director in 2014.

Louise Bezzina

Louise Bezzina, is the inaugural director and creator of Bleach* Festival, the largest arts and cultural Festival on the Gold Coast. Louise has produced and commissioned over 30 new contemporary site specific works as part of Bleach* Festival across all art forms and scales, many of which have gone on to tour nationally and internationally. In her role as Artistic Director for Bleach* Festival, Louise is part of the Creative Lead Team for the Commonwealth Games Cultural Program, Festival 2018, where Bleach* will play a major role and feature as part of the program.

In 2017, Louise Co-Curated a new project for the Gold Coast, Hotelling with David Pledger. Hotelling took place within the 5 stat Hotel, Peppers Soul and is an immersive, intimate theatre experience featuring a highly regarded ensemble of performers. In 2014, Bleach* Festival under Louise's direction co-produced and presented Opera on the Beach, in partnership with Opera Australia. This large scale outdoor production was an Australian first.

Louise was awarded Business Woman of the Year for Arts and Culture for the Gold Coast Women in Business Awards and was a finalist for Cultural Leadership for International Women’s Day in 2016.

Lynn Fu

Lynn has many years of experience working in international arts and cultural exchange. She oversees the international programs of the Wuzhen Theatre Festival 2017 (one of the most successful theatre festivals in China), and works closely with the most influential female theater director in China, artistic director Ms. Tian Qinxin.

She is now the International Project Director of Tian Qinxin Theatre Studio, and recently, she has been appointed as the International Program Director of the Chinese Theatre in Shanghai, a 1,000 seat playhouse firstly opened in 1930 and will reopen in May 2018. Lynn also serves as the China Representative of the award winning Modern Maori Quartet.

From 2005 to 2015, she worked for the British Council based in Shanghai and New York, enabling cross-cultural dialogues through different art genres. Lynn holds a Bachelor of Arts in English from Shanghai University of International Business and Economics and a Master of Arts in Arts Administration from Columbia University. Passionate about cultural diversity, she speaks four languages: Chinese, English, Japanese and French, and has travelled to more than 40 countries around the world.

Mark Ball

Mark Ball was appointed as Associate Artistic Director of Manchester International Festival (MIF) in June 2017, where he is responsible for leading the artistic programme for The Factory, MIF’s new large scale venue for arts and culture scheduled to open in autumn 2020. From April 2009 to June 2017 he was Artistic Director and Chief Executive of the London International Festival of Theatre (LIFT). From January 2008 – April 2009 he was Head of Events and Exhibitions at the Royal Shakespeare Company, leading a new department responsible for developing the profile of the RSC amongst new audiences by producing and delivering a range of high profile artist-led projects and commissions. From 1998 - 2007, he directed Fierce!, an annual international festival of theatre, live art and contemporary dance taking place across the West Midlands.

In November 2005, Mark was named the Institute of Director's (IoD) Young Director of the Year and was made a Clore Fellow in 2006/2007. He also holds posts at a number of arts organisations, including Chair of artsdepot and Trustee of Frantic Assembly and the Live Art Development Agency. Mark has been named by Time Out and The Stage as one of the ten most influential people in British theatre.

Martine Dennewald

After completing her studies in dramaturgy (Leipzig, Germany) and arts management (London, UK), Martine Dennewald worked for theatres and theatre festivals in Luxembourg, Germany, the United Kingdom, Hungary, Switzerland and Austria. She then joined Niels Ewerbeck for a few years as dramaturg at Künstlerhaus Mousonturm in Frankfurt.

Since 2015, she is the artistic director of Festival Theaterformen – an eleven-day performing arts festival which takes place alternately in the cities of Hanover and Braunschweig (Germany) every summer.

Tang Fu Kuen

Tang Fu Kuen is the current Artistic Director of Taipei Arts Festival. He has been an independent dramaturg, curator and producer active in contemporary performance and visual fields in Europe and Asia. He was sole curator of the Singapore Pavilion in 53rd Venice Biennale for which artist Ming Wong was awarded Special Jury Mention.

The platforms he has worked for include: Singapore Arts Festival, Indonesian Dance Festival, In-Transit Festival (Berlin), Exodos Festival (Ljubljana), December Dance (Brugge), Colombo Dance Platform (Sri Lanka), and Bangkok Fringe Festival. Fu Kuen has previously worked in immaterial conservation in UNESCO in Paris and SEAMEO-SPAFA in Bangkok. He was educated in literature, theatre, media and cultural theory in Singapore and London.