Lead artist: Sunny Drake
Supported by Canada Council for the Arts, Toronto Arts Council and Ontario Arts Council
Produced in association with Why Not Theatre and 9 companies around the world
9 audio drama episodes written by playwrights from Canada, Chile, Nigeria, Mauritius, India and Australia to tell stories of the global climate crisis from a local perspective.
ListenProduction advice for Orchestras Canada (CAN)
Experience design for a digital learning series exploring accessibility in the performing arts with disability rights activists and artists
WatchCommissioned by Northern Jazz Promoters (UK)
Designing and delivering a 2-part interactive workshop on audience growth for jazz promoters in Newcastle, Wakefield, Leeds & Manchester.
ExploreArt of Festivals’ founder Fanny Martin is invited to a 1-week trip to Kyiv, Ukraine to discuss community-building and skills development for local producers. Thank you to Olga Diatel and everyone at Insha Osvita and proto produkciia as well as all their partners the Prague Civil Society Centre and Asortymentna kimnata.
We’re continuing our collaboration with CIPA - Creative & Independent Producer Alliance with a new action-research project exploring systems theory, the role of super-connectors and the propagation of trust.
We’re heading to Asia to participate in HKAAA’s 2023 Leadership Summit on the topic of partnerships and learn from peers about their approaches, challenges and solutions.
Art of Festivals’ Creative Director Fanny Martin is heading to the seaside as part of OAUK Festival Focus, a programme of curated visits to outdoor arts festivals. Accompanied by members of the OAUK team, each event has a particular focus and is an opportunity to learn more about each festival’s aims and objectives, understand practical issues, meet producers and artists, ask questions – as well as see a lot of work.
"Fanny Martin and Art of Festivals are some of my favourite collaborators for projects that require innovative thinking and creative producing. As a theatre-maker, I'd describe them as project and producing "dramaturgs": they ask thoughtful questions, diligently craft a project's goals and vision and make sure that we're on track. They excel at creating collaborative digital spaces for engaging teams and participants on digital platforms. Oh, and the Art of Festivals team is a riot to work with - meetings are so much fun!"
Sunny Drake, playwright
"Fanny brings such refreshing perspectives on how we can bring people together - online or in person - in ways that feel human, genuine, and respectful. We've all learned so much from her, and can't wait to work with her again. She wasn't afraid to challenge us in a productive way either. She is creative and intentional about bringing people into a space, whether that's online or in person. Also just great to work with - responsive, helpful, reliable."
Katherine Carleton, Executive Director
"Fanny’s facilitation and planning of the IETM Belgrade 2022 Canadian delegation was outstanding, and helped encourage connections in a variety of contexts. I left feeling energized, inspired, and connected to a global community of theatre professionals."
Tom Carson, Executive Director
"It's very reassuring working with Fanny Martin. There's an emphasis on designing and learning together and being responsive to what is happening in the moment. Fanny's keen understanding of the arts and culture sector and areas of opportunities for sector advancement is brought forward in every step of the planning. Moreover, Fanny finds and brings out elements of joy and motivation during sessions - even when the topic is heavy!"
Stephanie Draker, Program Manager
"Art of Festivals did a great job of designing a multi-track programme that showed a deep understanding of the needs of our audience. They also went above and beyond in the contributor briefing process with detailed briefs, rehearsals and technical orientations on the platform. This resulted in high quality and well pitched speaker contributions and engaging panel discussions."
Tamsin Curror, Communications Manager
“Fanny is extremely cogent and articulate about the vital topic of the arts’ relationship with other dimensions of society.”
Graham Devlin CBE, Arts Consultant
“Fanny’s ability to hold things together, along with her depth of strategic thinking and insight, are greatly valued.”
Peter Wiegold, Artistic Director
“This was one of the best online events I’ve attended in a while, everything from the logistics, planning, communications to the event itself was flawless and extremely professional.”
Louis-Etienne Dubois, Associate Professor
“Fanny was absolutely fantastic to work with! She brought our project to a much higher level than we could have achieved without her! Her commitment, passion, expertise, contact, production skills, and attention to detail were all invaluable. I learned a great deal and feel that my own future work will be better for having worked with Fanny.”
Natalie Dewan, Program Associate
“Art of Festivals was clear and direct. They provided fresh, new ideas about how to reach out to audiences and speakers and I appreciated the direction, ideas, and care given to our event. Art of Festivals was also impeccably organised!”
Meaghan Froh Metcalf, Network and Programs Director
We are guided by critical reflection on ethics, politics and aesthetics in everything we do, including where we work, who we work and don’t work with, how we work with individuals and institutions, and why we persist in producing bespoke structures for art & dialogue.
Fanny Martin, Creative Director
Helena Grdadolnik, Chair
Deborah Brewster, Secretary
Peter Martin, Treasurer
Art of Festivals is a member of CIPA (Creative & Independent Producer Alliance), IETM (International Network for Contemporary Performing Arts) and Outdoor Arts UK.