Robyn Archer: “We are all participants“

In the run-up to the Atelier for Young Festival Managers in Poznan from 20-27 October 2014, all presenters who will participate in the Atelier to exchange with 40 young artistic festival directors from all over the world will be introduced. One of them is Robyn Archer, she has shared her remarkable experience and given advice to participants in the Ateliers for Young Festival Managers in VARNA 2009, SINGAPORE 2011, IZMIR 2011, LJUBLJANA 2012 and will now participate, for the fifth time, in POZNAN. Robyn Archer is a many-sided leader: singer, writer, artistic director and public advocate of the arts.

“As mentors and presenters I know we will get at least as much out of the participants as they may get out of us in the coming week. It should be understood at the outset that there are very few differences between us as mentors and you as participants, except perhaps in terms of experience. We are all participants in the Atelier,” said Robyn Archer during the Opening Ceremony of the Atelier LJUBLJANA 2012.

Robyn Archer is currently Artistic Director at The Light in Winter in Melbourne, Deputy Chair at the Australia Council for the Arts and Strategic Advisor Gold Coast Arts and Culture at Queensland, Member of Council for Australia Latin America Relations (DFAT) and Member of European House of Culture.

Singer but also patron of numerous arts organisations across Australia, Robyn Archer has been awarded throughout the world for her contribution to the arts. She is an Officer of the Order of Australia, Chevalier de l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres (France), Officer of the Crown (Belgium) and holds honorary doctorates from Flinders University (SA), and the Universities of Sydney and Canberra.

A selection of public speeches is published under the title Detritus (UWA Press) and she has made more than 20 major speeches since then in Australia and internationally. She is patron of numerous arts organisations and has received many prestigious arts awards, most recently a Helpmann for Best Cabaret Performer 2013.

Robyn Archer is the former artistic director of the National Festival of Australian Theatre, the Adelaide and Melbourne Festivals, and Ten Days on the Island, which she created for Tasmania. She recently completed 5 years as Creative Director of the Centenary of Canberra 2013.

“She gave us great lectures and workshops and her words remained in our memories and were brought up numerous times during the Atelier training,” said Darja Demšar, participant Atelier Ljubljana 2012.

Seven renowned mentors from all over the world will guide the participants throughout the seven days of the Atelier POZNAN 2014 under the coordination of Hugo De Greef (Atelier Coordinator, former EFA Secretary General, Director European Capital of Culture Bruges 2002, Co-Founder Kaaitheater Brussels - Belgium): Robyn Archer (Artistic Director The Light in Winter Melbourne, Deputy Chair Australia Council for the Arts, Strategic Advisor Gold Coast Arts and Culture Queensland – Australia), Mark Ball (Artistic Director London International Festival of Theatre (LIFT) - UK), Bernard Faivre d’Arcier (President Lyon Biennial, former long-standing Director Avignon Festival - France), Nele Hertling (Vice President of the Academy of Arts Berlin, Member Strategy Group “A Soul for Europe” – Germany), Michal Merczyński (General Director Malta Festival Poznan and Nostalgia Festival Poznan - Poland), and Annemie Vanackere (Artistic and Managing Director HAU Hebbel am Ufer, former Artistic Director Rotterdamse Schouwburg - Germany/Netherlands).

More info on the Atelier POZNAN 2014 on the Atelier website.