Vânia Rodrigues

I have been working as an arts manager and consultant for more than 15 years, both in the independent and the public sector. I have specialized in the performing arts, namely in the field of strategic planning, internationalization and programming. My last two positions were as Strategy Advisor for Artemrede – a Portuguese theatre network encompassing 15 cities, and as a cultural manager for mala voadora - one of the most renowned Portuguese theatre companies, where I was in charge of kick-starting and programming an independent arts venue in the centre of Porto.

Previously, I have mostly acted as an external consultant for public and independent arts organisations, and have also been involved in transnational cooperation projects. I have served as a member of groups such as the European House for Culture or the A Soul for Europe Initiative. I am also highly involved in the governance of my city, being a member of its Municipal Council for Culture, Member of the Jury for Arts Internationalization – Shuttle Programme – and a Founding Member of DDD – Days of Dance Performing Arts Association.

I write, teach and speak regularly about cultural policy and management. My background is in European Studies, followed by a Master’s Degree in Cultural Policy and Management at City University London. In 2018, I decided to pause ongoing work projects to focus on my PhD in Artistic Studies/Performing Arts at the University of Coimbra. The focus of my research is the emergence of new models of organization and management in the performing arts, namely by questioning the status quo of the relationship between artists and producers, by examining the role of arts managers in theatre companies, as well as by discussing new forms of organization for artistic production and the implications of the 'collaboration ethos' for cultural project management.