Barbara Van Lindt

I am currently reshaping my professional practice outside of an institutional frame. After working for, in, and on behalf of institutions, I decided to leave and re-orientate myself. Educated in philosophy and theatre studies, I have gained experience as a producer and curator, mostly in positions of artistic (and sometimes general) leadership. My trajectory through Antwerp Cultural Capital, Monty Antwerp, STUK Leuven, Gasthuis Amsterdam, wpZimmer Antwerp and Kunstenfestivaldesarts, Brussels reflects two ongoing interests: the support and development of emerging performing artists, and thinking performing arts internationally. The past years I brought these interests into a new field: higher arts education. Being at the helm of DasArts/DAS Theatre gave me the opportunity to curate education programs, adopt a more distant perspective on the field, get close to the artistic research of my students, broaden their horizons as practitioners who do not only want to fit into, but also want to contribute to the shaping of the field and the world at large.

I notice how performing artists nowadays are finding ways of sharing their practice with an audience through forms which we can call ‘educational’. Often framed as workshops, artists provide a context to share knowledge, experience and practice. The artists invite the audience to engage with the matter, to bring it further, to add a twist, to appropriate it and test it. Sometimes these workshops become the art work, mostly they coexist next to artistic projects.

This new ‘educational turn’, where artistic research is no longer solely oriented towards peers, but to audience, is my field of investigation. I wish to research it, and contribute to it, as an educator and curator. I am convinced it can both strengthen artists and be a means to bridge a gap with audiences. Besides that, I am currently exploring various roles: dramaturgy, mentorship, advising…