Delegation members: (L-R) Greg Randall, Douglas Gautier, Brett Sheehy, Carrillo Gantner, Wang Ying (NCPA), Noel Staunton, Hannah Skrzynski, Ian Scobie, Ziyin Gantner
In October 2010, The Ministry of Culture in China invited a delegation of Australian performing arts managers to participate in a cultural visit, as part of the ‘Year of Australian Culture in China’. The delegation visited Beijing, Shanghai and Chengdu, and met with key local arts and cultural organizations to discuss future collaboration and exchange opportunities. The 10 day tour also included viewing of 14 performances showcasing a variety of classical and contemporary Chinese performing art forms, as well as two industry seminars on Australia-China performing arts exchange.
The delegation was organized and led on the Australian side by Carrillo Gantner AO (President of the Melbourne International Arts Festival), and members included;
Brett Sheehy (Artistic Director, Melbourne International Arts Festival)
Lesley Alway (Arts Director, Asialink)
Ziyin Gantner (Independent film producer)
Douglas Gautier (CEO, Adelaide Festival Centre)
Noel Staunton (Artistic Director, Brisbane Festival)
Ian Scobie (Arts Projects Australia)
Greg Randall (Director of Programming, The Arts Centre Melbourne)
Hannah Skrzynski (Director, Creative Asia)
The tour was highly successful in achieving the following major outcomes:
- Giving senior Australian performing arts managers an insight into the diversity and quality of the performing arts in China;
- Meeting Chinese arts managers, and building networks and to exchange information and professional expertise
- Building connections with national and provincial cultural officials, to assist with future collaborations
- Sourcing productions for possible future touring to Australia
