Symposium for the performing arts in Scotland will take place on 2 November at Verdant Works in Dundee
We are very excited to announce the first contributors to the forthcoming symposium for the performing arts:
- The host for the day is Briana Pegado, an inspiring author, Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts and festival founder. Briana works as an anti-racism, governance and strategy consultant. She is a member of the Collective Scotland, a feminist social policy and research collective that specialises in consultation, policy reviews and training.
- Nazli Tabatabai-Khatambakhsh is our keynote listener and will be deep listening across the day. Nazli will harvest discussions and debates and share back reflections at the end. Nazli is the inaugural Artistic Doctoral Researcher of Opera Librettist Practice Based at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama. She may be known to you as the founder and artistic director of ZENDEH theatre company.
- The Symposium’s provocative keynote speech will be delivered by prof. Elenora Belfore. Elenora is Director, Interdisciplinary Centre of Social Inclusion and Cultural Diversity at University of Aberdeen and Director of WIASN, Women in Academia Support Network. Elenora is an expert in cultural policy and will share thoughts on new ways for the cultural sector to respond in times of crisis.
- The day will be interspersed with artistic interventions and we are delighted to announce that the Symposium will open and close with blessings from Jo Clifford, playwright, performer, proud father, grandmother and saint.
- We’ll be taking a moment to celebrate all that the sector has achieved with Jim Tough, former Chief Executive of the Scottish Arts Council before deep diving into a panel discussion on ‘Where we are now’.
- With an eye to future, we’ve lined up a series of TED-style talks looking at ‘What’s waiting to arrive well’. Watch this space as the contributors to both of those sections will be announced soon.
- The Symposium’s delegate pack and playlist for the day are being created by designer Kirstin Cunningham who is passionate about connecting creatively with people with complex needs.
There will also be plenty of time to network and have your say in breakout sessions, facilitated by colleagues from across the sector. We will also have a notice board where you can share any information on your forthcoming projects, flyers for your shows and any other sector-related news.
We’ll be rounding off the day with a drinks reception sponsored by Dundee’s very own 71 Brewing – Engineers of Beers.
We are offering ‘Pay What You Decide’ pricing, starting at £10 for individual bookers. There are a limited number of tickets per price bracket so do book early to get the best deal! If your chosen ticket category is sold out and you are experiencing financial barriers to attendance, or if you require an additional attendance space to assist with your access needs, please contact us at FSTadmin@scottishtheatre.org to discuss options which would allow you to attend.
Accessibility: the presentations will be BSL interpreted and the event aims to be a ‘relaxed’ one, with a quiet space available for delegates. Any other information relating to venue accessibility is available on the venue’s website.
The presentations will be filmed and made available after the Symposium for those who aren’t able to make it in person.