Sabine Pater and Jiska Bazuin together form the new leadership duo of Oerol Festival. Pater takes on the role of Artistic Director of the Terschelling-based site-specific arts festival, while Bazuin becomes Managing Director. Together, they constitute the festival’s executive board.
“Following the valued commitment of former General Director Mikey Martins until October last year, the Supervisory Board sought to give Oerol Festival an extra boost by appointing Sabine Pater as Artistic Director and Jiska Bazuin as Managing Director,” says Jerry Straub, Chair of the Supervisory Board. “With all their knowledge, experience, and love for Oerol, the Board has complete confidence in Sabine and Jiska to provide direction and energy to Oerol’s ambitions and challenges.”
Sabine Pater has worked at Oerol since 2013, initially as Coordinator and Head of Programming. Since 2023, she has been responsible for the festival’s artistic direction as Artistic Lead. Pater lives on the mainland, where a large part of her work takes place through close contact with artists and companies, and she travels to Terschelling on a weekly basis. Jiska Bazuin worked for the past ten years in various leadership and management positions in both the cultural sector and the maritime and offshore industries before joining Oerol in 2023. In mid-2024, she became Head of Operations and moved to Terschelling.
The appointment of Pater and Bazuin provides Oerol with the stability and continuity the organisation needs. They build on the artistic and strategic course they have jointly helped to shape. The Artistic Director focuses on vision and content, while the Managing Director ensures a solid foundation in terms of organisation, finances, and policy. Each brings their own expertise, while actively thinking alongside one another and understanding each other’s fields of work.
“Precisely because we complement, support, and challenge each other, a strong collaboration emerges,” says Bazuin. “Financial realities may force us to make sharp choices, but not to let go of our ambition.” Pater adds: “We’re excited to continue building a sustainable and future-proof festival together with the team and our partners. We also want to further strengthen Oerol’s role as a creative workspace: through residencies, we offer space for talent development and experimentation. A place where artists and audiences can pause and reflect on what’s happening in the world, in this small-scale society. And where we share the island’s most beautiful locations, creativity, playfulness, and the festival’s energy. We’re looking forward to the 45th edition of Oerol and are ready to turn it into a celebration once again!”
