Opening Ceremony of the Atelier paved the way for a week of fruitful exchanges

On Saturday, 14 May 2011, in Singapore, the opening ceremony of the third edition of the Atelier for Young Festival Managers took place. Held for the first time in Asia, the Atelier is jointly organised by the European Festivals Association (EFA), LASALLE College of the Arts Singapore, and the Asia-Europe Foundation (ASEF). The first Atelier in Asia has been officially opened by Mr Lee Suan Hiang, Executive Director of the Arts and Culture Development Office, Ministry of Information, Communications and the Arts, in front of participants to the Atelier as well as numerous students of LASALLE. His introductory speech, as well as the ones by Kathrin Deventer, Secretary General of EFA, Alastair Pearce, President of LASALLE College of the Arts, Katelijn Verstraete, Assistant Director, Cultural Exchange Department ASEF, have paved the way for an exciting and inspiring week of work and exchanges between the 35 participants, coming from 20 countries, and the 12 renowned Atelier mentors and festival leaders. Exchanges and discussions with artists started right away with a conversation with Alain Platel, Director of the performance ‘Out of Context – for Pina’ at Singapore Arts Festival and founder of Les ballets C de la B, Gent, Belgium. The great success of this opening session has set the mood for a remarkable edition of the Atelier, taking place in the highly positive learning environment of LASALLE College of the Arts. Read the press release of the opening ceremony. More information can be found at the SINGAPORE 2011 website. For impressions from the Atelier in Singapore have a look at the dedicated photo gallery.