OUR EXPERTS
Lina B. Frank
SE, Lund
Lina is a producer, curator, strategist and arts consultant based in Sweden & the UK working
across Europe. She works mostly with Contemporary Circus, Cross-disciplinary Arts and Live Art. Lina is interested in how art can be used to facilitate democratic participation to challenge the status quo. Previously work history includes independent consultant for the European
Parliament and Co-Founding Director of Bristol Biennial Circus Festival, and BNCN
coordinator (2017-2021). Lina is currently the Director of Cirkus Syd.
Rachel Clare
UK
Specialising in international collaboration, Rachel works with artists, theatre makers and companies from UK, Europe, Africa and Cuba. She is a founder member of two EU networks, Circostrada and FACE, and travels to international festivals as part of research, seminars and
to deliver talks and workshops. The Crying Out Loud team is based in an office at Somerset House and in the Historic Boatyard in Portsmouth to deliver projects in the Solent area.
Simon Carrara
FR
Simon has worked with the iconic, pioneers of contemporary circus all his life. For the last 11years he has held 3 Director positions and is currently Directeur général délégué chez Archaos, Pôle National Cirque and the Head of Biennale International des Arts du Cirque (BIAC), currently the worlds largest contemporary circus festival, based in Marseille.
Anne-Mette Nørskov
DK, Copenhagen
With a Master Degree in Performance Design, years of teaching experience and several years with project management and development of organizations Anne Mette has a solid interdisciplinary foundation with a particular interest in management, coordination, advocacy and dissemination of cultural projects and educational content in the broadest sense. Anne Mette is particularly concerned with circus education and has been involved in and supported the development of the contemporary circus industri in Denmark in the last 10 years. Despites that Anne Mette is facilitating artists in creating a healthy and sustainable work life.
Tilde Björfors
SE, Stockholm
Cirkus Cirkör's founder and Artistic Director during 25 year Tilde Björfors took that step in 1995 - out on a tightrope and
into a new art form. During her soon 30 years in the industry, Tilde has been at the forefront of a
leading circus art movement in both performances and pedagogy in the Nordics. For her
work, she has won countless prizes and awards.
Photo by: Mattias Edwall
Mara Pavula
LV
Mara is Head of Strategic Development at Rigas Cirks and also Director of Rigas Cirks
School. After graduation of Master of International artistic cooperation in Paris in 2015 where
she researched the strategies for contemporary circus development in Baltic states, Mara has returned to Latvia to work towards development of contemporary circus in Latvia, by
producing events and regularly writing articles about circus for different media in Baltics and
abroad.
Gry Lambertsen
DK, Odense
Gry has a long career as a touring circus artist and in the last few years set up Denmark's only and thriving production house for contemporary circus. Gry, with her partner in crime Rune Andersen have developed an incredible space and culture around Dynamo workspace, and in a very short time become legends in grassroots development and community building.
Antonia Kuzmanić
HR
Antonia is co-leader of contemporary circus collective ROOM 100 which she set up with Jakov Labrović.
She was laureate of “Jeunes Talents Cirque Europe” project for C8H11NO2 performance, in the 2009-2010.
She is the artistic director and executive producer of the contemporary circus festival "Peculiar Families Festival" happening in Split, Croatia.
She coordinates Creative Europe projects ROOM 100 is part of (Hand to hand, Circus Without Circus, circusnext platform), design and implement projects and programs that are developing the sector in the Eastern Europe.
Noemi De Clerq
NL, Ghent
TBA
Noemi is the managing director of Circuscentrum. She took up her position in October 2019 and was
assigned the task to reshape the organization as a central knowledge & support platform for the circus sector in Flanders. One if it main tasks is to invest in the further professionalization of the sector, another
to map and promote the Flemish circus arts. Noemi is also a board member of Passerelle vzw – Platform for
young dancers and chairwoman of the Cultural Council for the City of Ghent. Previously she worked as an inclusion manager for Flanders Literature.
Photo by: Michiel Devijver.
Maartje Bonarius
NL, Rotterdam
Maartje is artistic director of Tall Tales Company in the Netherlands. The company reimagines and provides experiences on understanding circus, in relation to itself and other artforms, in ways that are seriously ahead
of the curve in the international cultural field. Having also set up a space for training and artistic creation it's clear that Maartje (and her collaborators) are visionaries who make things happen and that no task seems too tall for them.
Photo by Jenneke Boeijink
