The Festival Spirit: Between Local Values and Global Culture
What is a festival today, in the age of anti-, de- or post-humanism?
Synopsis: What is a festival? This simple question is hardly ever asked and almost never answered in a global public sphere overwhelmed by events that unashamedly claim this title. Furthermore, such a question has started to appear irrelevant, since the options to employ the term are virtually limitless. Yet, it refuses to go away. A minimal sense of semantic hygiene is necessary, particularly because the word “festival” has been so grossly devalued that it seems to be applied to any programme, of any kind, of any quality, anytime, anywhere.
To borrow the words of Winston Churchill, whose Nobel Prize for Literature is often forgotten, a festival is a celebration of the human spirit. No more, and certainly no less. Churchill’s vision for such an event in the aftermath of World War II, which led to the foundation of Edinburgh International Festival in 1947, is more significant for us today than it perhaps has been ever since. In the face of dehumanisation, antihumanism, posthumanism and all such aberrations of our world, redefining humanity, effectively, is inseparable from the rediscovery of the human spirit, symbolically. Therefore, no festival from any place can afford to simply carry on without asking itself whether it represents a true platform for "the flowering of the human spirit".
Two events – one established three decades ago, one having reached ten years of continuous existence – are legitimate examples of how a strong belief in the human spirit can lead to the miracle that transforms local and global communities. Sibiu, in Romania, is one of the world’s greatest cultural celebrations. Wuzhen, in China, is a genuine triumph of togetherness beyond borders and against barriers. Understanding their stories may be the key to answering the same, essential question: what is a festival, today, in 2024?
This event is free and open to the public.
Octavian Saiu
Speaker
Professor Octavian Saiu from Hong Kong Metropolitan University is a scholar as well as a professional cultural and academic consultant. He is the President of the International Association of Theatre Leaders (IATL), a global alliance that gathers prominent figures in the field of performing arts, represented in more than sixty countries: https://theatreleaders.org He holds a PhD in Theatre Studies from the National University of Theatre and Film (NUTF) in Romania, with a thesis about theatrical space, and another PhD in Comparative Literature from the University of Otago in New Zealand, with a thesis about Samuel Beckett and Eugène Ionesco. His Post-Doctoral Fellowship in Modern Literature at the University of Otago was funded by the Royal Society of New Zealand, and he was subsequently awarded his European Habilitation (Higher Doctorate) in Theatre and Performing Arts. He has received bursaries, scholarships, and research grants from the EU, the New Zealand Government, the European Science Foundation, the International Association for the Study of Irish Literatures, University of Otago, etc. He is a PhD Research Professor in the Doctoral School of Sibiu University, and has been Visiting Professor at universities in Tokyo, Hong Kong, Beijing and Lisbon. He was twice a Visiting Fellow at the University of London (SOAS) and he offered Master Classes and Workshops at academic institutions in Europe, Africa, Asia, and the Middle East.
He has been actively involved, as Conference Chair and Invited Speaker, in several major theatre and academic events around the world, including the Theatre Olympics and Edinburgh International Festival, where he was Chair of the Samuel Beckett Conference in 2013. Since 2004 he has been the Chair of the Conferences of Sibiu International Theatre Festival, the largest curated performing arts event in the world. Throughout the years, he has hosted dialogues and conferences with hundreds of renowned theatre artists, from Sasha Waltz, Ohad Naharin, and Akram Khan to John Malkovich, Tim Robbins, Robert Wilson, Robert Lepage, Thomas Ostermeier, and Ivo van Hove.
He has published academic articles in several international journals, as well as fourteen books on theatre. He serves on the editorial boards of various journals and publishing houses. His most recent book publication is Phèdre. D’Euripide à Racine, de Sénèque à Sarah Kane (Lansman Editeur, Brussels).
He received the Critics’ Award in 2010 and the Award of the Union of Theatre Artists (UNITER) in 2013. In 2020, on the National Day of Culture, the President of Romania awarded him the Order of Cultural Merit. In 2024, the Romanian Ministry of Culture offered him its Honorary Award for his "extraordinary contribution to promoting the art of dialogue between artists, performing arts professionals and audiences alike".
Michelle Loh
Moderator
Michelle Loh is a bilingual arts manager and researcher in arts management and cultural policy. She serves on the executive committee of Poetry Festival Singapore and the organising committee of the biennial Singapore Literature Conference. Her research interests in traditional Chinese music, cultural policy and arts management led her to be the Principal Investigator of Tracking Creative Developments in Traditional Chinese Music in Singapore 1999 – 2015, supported by National Arts Council Research & Development Grant and LASALLE College of the Arts Major Research Fund.
Michelle worked in London at the Tate Britain and International Intelligence on Culture. Her project with Late Nights @ Tate series brought in new audiences and visitors through a variety of music events. She was also a researcher with the International Intelligence on Culture in the areas of cultural policy and cultural indicators in European countries.
Michelle returned to Singapore as arts manager at National University of Singapore Centre for the Arts. She played a key role in the establishment, inception and management of Singapore’s leading Chinese Instrumental Examination system. She managed numerous performances at the annual NUS Arts Festival and also organised international concert tours to the UK, Switzerland, Malaysia etc. Michelle has a music education in classical piano and Chinese pipa. She taught and performed in both instruments, organised traditiona/classical/fusion music performances and international music tours.
Michelle is currently on LASALLE Academic Qualifications Fund scholarship for her doctorate studies at the University of Western Australia. Her topic is "Evolution of Multiculturalism and Arts Policies in Singapore". She has a Masters (Arts Management) from City University London, and BSc. (Real Estate) from National University of Singapore.