Lisa Wiegel will start on 1 April as programmer for location theatre at Oerol. In this new role, she will initially focus on programming location-based theatre productions. Together with the artistic team, Lisa will continue to build an interdisciplinary and polyphonic festival.
Lisa has worked at the Flemish Cultural House de Brakke Grond since 2016, most recently as artistic director. Artistic director Sabine Pater looks forward to the collaboration: “With Lisa’s arrival, we are expanding the artistic team and strengthening the artistic branch of our organisation. Lisa brings a great deal of expertise as well as her own vision on the performing arts. In recent years at de Brakke Grond, she has shown a strong sense for the connective power of festivals and for creating space for experimentation. At Oerol, we place great value on the dialogue between makers and the festival, and I have every confidence that Lisa will play a valuable role in this. I’m really looking forward to working with her.”
Lisa says about joining Oerol: “Oerol is an iconic festival that continues to reinvent itself within an ever-changing context. I’m very much looking forward to contributing to this story, on such a special island, and in collaboration with the environment, the team and the makers.”
Corien Baart appointed as new fundraiser
Oerol has also welcomed a new fundraiser: Corien Baart started on 1 February. The redistribution of responsibilities within the new two-person management team—artistic director Sabine Pater and managing director Jiska Bazuin—made the appointment of both a new programmer and a fundraiser necessary.
Jiska says: “We’re in the midst of major developments, and with the arrival of Lisa and Corien we’ve gained the reinforcement we need for the future. Corien brings a wealth of experience and knows the cultural sector inside out. She has a unique skill set that allows her to think along from both artistic and business perspectives about the development of the festival and the impact we make. She is always looking to build broad social support through collaboration and co-creation with committed, sustaining partners. That fits perfectly with how we want to work as a festival.”
Corien describes Oerol as “probably the most unique festival in the world” and is very much looking forward to getting started: “The comforting, connecting and disorienting forces of nature and of the (performing) arts are brought together here in an exceptional way. I know the festival well—both as a co-creator with various groups in different locations and as a ‘professional’ visitor.”
