SIFA brings together three festival makers to share their thoughts, challenges and motivations in planning for a festival during a pandemic. How have their decisions been affected? What new processes have they implemented? Join our panellists as they dialogue on the post-pandemic future of an arts festival and its role in pursuing cultural mobility, artistic experimentation and international collaboration.
Tang Fu-Kuen
Taipei Arts Festival (Taiwan)
Tang Fu-Kuen is currently Curator of the Taipei Arts Festival (2018-). A Singaporean based now in Taipei, he studied theatre, literature, media and cultural theory at National University of Singapore and University of London (Goldsmiths College). As independent curator and producer and dramaturg, he has worked across Asia and Europe for platforms including Singapore Arts Festival – the previous iteration of SIFA, Indonesian Dance Festival, In-Transit Festival (Berlin), December Dance (Brugge), Exodus (Ljubljana), Colombo Dance Platform and Bangkok Fringe Festival.
Fu-Kuen worked previously in immaterial patrimoine in UNESCO (Paris) and in SEAMEO-SPAFA (Bangkok).
Juliet Knapp
Kyoto Experiment: Kyoto International Performing Arts Festival (Japan)
Juliet’s career with Kyoto Experiment began in 2017 when she was part of the PR team and assisted the director in the programming of the festival. From 2020, Juliet became the co-director of Kyoto Experiment alongside Yoko Kawasaki and Yuya Tsukahara.
Juliet’s foray into the arts started with volunteering and internship stints at Kyoto Art Centre and Shizuoka Performing Arts Centre. She later became Communications Manager and Project Manager for Music and Performance at Ryoji Ikeda Studio. With a BA in English Literature and Language from Oxford University, Juliet also has editing, translation and interpretation experience related to the performing arts.
Jeff Khan
Performance Space (Australia)
Jeff Khan is a writer and curator based on Gadigal country in Sydney, Australia. Currently Artistic Director and CEO of Performance Space, Jeff works at the intersection of performance, dance, visual arts, and sound and has a particular interest in experimental and cross-disciplinary practices. At Performance Space, Jeff curates and oversees the annual Liveworks Festival of Experimental Art, as well as a year-round program of artist development, residencies, and international exchange.
Performance Space’s programs situate Australian practice in an Asian Pacific context and Jeff’s recent curatorial work is particularly engaged with exigent issues in the region, from queer and feminist conversations to artists’ responses to environmental, political, and intercultural complexities. Jeff sits on the Board of Chunky Move and has previously held positions and Guest Curatorships at the Next Wave Festival, Gertrude Contemporary, the Australian Centre for Contemporary Art, and the Museum of Contemporary Art Australia. He has participated on juries and assessment panels for the Taishin Art Award (Taiwan); the Australia Council for the Arts; Arts Northern Rivers, and many more.
