Felix Meritis - Europees centrum voor kunst, cultuur en wetenschap

vrijdag 13 mei 2011

International festival experts in Singapore for first Atelier for Young Festival Managers in Asia

The Atelier for Young Festival Managers SINGAPORE 2011 (14-21 May) received an overwhelming response with more than 120 applications from all over the world.

The European Festivals Association (EFA) together with its partners selected 45 emerging artistic directors from 27 countries and five continents to take part in the one week intense training programme. Four high-level mentors developed an intense working schedule with the contribution of eight renowned festival managers from all over the world. This combination makes the Atelier one of a kind. The fourth edition is already in preparation: IZMIR 2011 takes place from 24-31 October 2011.

Singapore will be the venue for Asia's first Atelier for Young Festival Managers from 14 to 21 May 2011.

The selected group of young festival managers will be participating in the rigorous one-week training programme, designed to nurture future festival leaders. Renowned festival managers and festival leaders will be acting as the participants' mentors under the coordination of Hugo De Greef, General Coordinator of the Atelier for Young Festival Managers; Former EFA Secretary General (2004-2008); Director European Capital of Culture Bruges 2002; Co-Founder Kaaitheater, Brussels, Belgium:  Rose Fenton (International Arts Producer and Advisor, London, United Kingdom), Nele Hertling (Member of Strategy Group, A Soul for Europe, Berlin; Former Director Hebbel-Theatre, Berlin; Director European Capital of Culture Berlin, 1988, Germany), Goh Ching Lee (former Director of the Singapore Arts Festival; Executive and Artistic Director CultureLink, Singapore) and Grace Lang (Programme Director, Hong Kong Arts Festival).

Furthermore, remarkable festival directors will be in attendance to share their knowledge. They include Robyn Archer (Creative Director The Centenary of Canberra (2013); Artistic Director The Light in Winter, Melbourne, Australia), Norman Armour (Executive Director PuSh International Performing Arts Festival, Vancouver, Canada), Bernard Faivre d'Arcier (Vice-President Biennale de la Danse de Lyon; Former Director Festival d'Avignon, France), Seok Kyu Choi (Creative Producer AsiaNow Productions, Jongno-gu, South Korea), Wai Lap Kwong (Programme Director Guangdong Modern Dance Festival, China), and Carla Van Zon (Artistic Director Auckland Arts Festival).

Participants will also have the opportunity to engage with managers and artists of the Singapore Arts Festival and other venues in the city.

The Atelier SINGAPORE 2011 is jointly organised by the European Festivals Association (EFA), initiator of the Atelier and LASALLE College of the Arts, together with the Asia-Europe Foundation (ASEF). This first edition of the Atelier in Singapore was co-incepted by CultureLink - a multidimensional cultural agency founded by Ms Goh Ching Lee, and the European Festivals Association.

Find here the press releases for the Opening and Closing of the Atelier.

ORGANISERS
European Festivals Association (initiator of the Atelier for Young Festival Managers) is the network of and for arts festivals in Europe and beyond. The Association raises awareness of the vital role played by festivals in today's societies and represents festivals interest's towards European institutions.

LASALLE College of the Arts is a leading institution for education in fine art, design, media and performing arts in the Asia Pacific. Contemporary in focus and innovative in approach, LASALLE has nurtured some of Singapore's leading creative practitioners.

The Asia-Europe Foundation promotes greater mutual understanding between Asia and Europe through intellectual, cultural and people-to-people exchanges. Through ASEF, civil society concerns are included as a vital component of deliberations of the Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM). ASEF was established in February 1997 by the participating governments of ASEM and has since implemented over 500 projects, engaging over 15,000 direct participants as well as reaching out to a much wider audience in Asia and Europe.

SUPPORTERS
The Singapore Arts Festival offers a stimulating framework for the Atelier, making it possible for the participants to experience one of the finest festivals in Asia. 

The Association of Asian Performing Arts Festivals (AAPAF) promotes the Atelier Asia-wide among its members. It is the network of festivals which aims to promote Asian arts and artists through the exchange of knowledge, and to establish a framework for collaboration.

CultureLink, an arts agency based in Singapore engaging in artistic and programme planning, artist touring and arts presentations, seeking to connect inspiring ideas, people, and places across cultures and continents.

About Atelier for Young Festival Managers
The Atelier is a unique mentoring programme initiated and developed by the European Festivals Association (EFA) to nurture future festival leaders. The Atelier SINGAPORE 2011 will take place during the Singapore Arts Festival. The organisers recognise that the challenges of tradition and modernity, past and future, the local and the international, artistic impulses and social responsibility, are inescapable issues shared by many arts festival managers around the world, and have chosen Singapore as the stimulating setting for the first Atelier to venture outside of Europe.

The Atelier, meaning ‘workshop' in French, is a rigorous one-week training programme, initiated by EFA to meet the need of equipping new generations of festival managers in Europe. Previous editions were held in Görlitz (Germany 2006) and Varna (Bulgaria 2009).

Afdrukken