Wednesday January 29

Camille Larivée (they/them/iel)

Camille Larivée is a street artist, independent curator, and cultural worker based in Tiohtià:ke/Montreal. They hold a bachelor’s degree in art history and a certificate in gender studies from the University of Quebec in Montreal. Their artistic and curatorial practice is anchored around collective memories in urban public spaces and love for local biodiversity. Camille is the Executive and Artistic Director for the Montréal, arts interculturels. Email: dg@m-a-i.qc.ca

Fay Nass (She/He/They)

Fay Nass is a multi-disciplinary artist, director, writer, dramaturg, innovator, producer and educator . They are the Artistic Director of the frank theatre company and the founder/Artistic Director of Aphotic Theatre. 

Fay has over 20 years of experience in text-based and devised work deeply rooted in inter-cultural and collaborative approaches. Fay’s work often examines questions of race, gender, sexuality, culture and language through an intersectional lens in order to shift meanings and de-construct paradigms rooted in our society. Fay’s work celebrates liminality and trans-culturalism, and blurs the line between politics and intimate personal stories.

Fay’s work has been presented at PuSh International Performing Arts Festival, SummerWorks Festival, Queer Arts Festival, the CULTCH and Firehall Arts Centre. Her readings and experimental work have been presented at various conferences and artist-run galleries in Spain, Berlin and Paris. Their co-creation project Be-Longing was part of the 2021 New York international Film Festival, NICE International Film Festival and Madrid International Film Festival.

Godlive Lawani (She/her)

Godlive Lawani is the Founder and Director of Stane Performing Arts Management, an arts agency in Berlin specializing in promoting dance companies worldwide. As a cultural promoter, manager, and producer, she focuses on international promotion, production, and distribution of contemporary performing arts. She also co-curates the Frei Art Festival in Freiburg and programs the ATLAS MÉXICO Biennial Dance Festival in Guanajuato.

River Lin (he/him)

Working with Live Art, dance, and queer culture, Paris-based Taiwanese artist River Lin is Curator of the Taipei Arts Festival, ADAM, Camping Asia, and Curatoké: Performance Curator Academy at the Taipei Performing Arts Center. He is also Co-Curator of the Indonesian Dance Festival, Guest-Curator of the 2025 Biennale de la Danse de Lyon, and Guest Co-Editor for the online journal OnCurating. His artistic work has been presented internationally by Centre Pompidou, Centre National de la Danse, Live Art Prize, M+ Museum, and Taipei Fine Arts Museum among others.

Dena Davida (she/her/elle)

Dena Davida is an elder artivist dance curator, performer, educator, and researcher. Co-founder/curator for Montréal’s Tangente performance venue (1980-2019) and the Festival international de la nouvelle danse (1985-2001), she taught in UQÀM’s Dance Department (1979-2010) where she completed her doctorate (2006). Publishing widely on dance and culture, she edited seminal anthologies on artworld dance ethnography and live arts curation, and now edits the Turba journal.

Derek Chan (he/him)

Derek Chan (陳嘉昊) grew up in colonial Hong Kong and currently lives and works on the unceded, stolen, and ancestral lands of the Musqueam, Squamish, and Tsleil-Waututh Nations, colonially known as Vancouver. An award-winning multilingual playwright, director, translator, and performer, he is the Managing Artistic Director of Vancouver Asian Canadian Theatre. He also co-founded rice & beans theatre with Pedro Chamale in 2010. Derek was an artist in residence at the National Arts Centre English Theatre Department in the 2019/20 season. He was also part of the 2021 & 2024 Banff Playwrights’ Lab. Derek was the co-recipient of the 2021 Simon Fraser University FCAT Young Alumni Award for his work at rice & beans theatre.

Cecilia Kuska (she/her)

Cecilia Kuska is a cultural worker (creative producer, curator, and artist manager) with expertise in interdisciplinary collaboration and promoting cultural diversity on an international scale. Starting her career in South America before moving to Europe, she has spent 15 years working with prominent artists and organizations worldwide.

Cecilia is dedicated to fostering professional growth among artists and team members through a supportive, holistic approach. Passionate about creating inclusive spaces for connection and collective reflection, while she embraces the challenges this work entails. She has a proven track record in developing international cooperation projects and programmes through horizontal and cooperative methods, actively advocating for female representation in institutional structures and elevating the voices of artists from marginalized communities.

Dr. Reneltta Arluk (she/her)

Reneltta is an Inuvialuk, Dene and Cree mom from the Northwest Territories. She is founder of Akpik Theatre, a northern focussed professional Indigenous Theatre company. Raised by her grandparents on the trap-line until school age, this nomadic environment gave Reneltta the skills to become the multi-disciplined artist she is now. For nearly two decades, Reneltta has taken part in or initiated the creation of Indigenous Theatre across Canada and overseas. Reneltta recently received an honorary doctorate from the University of Alberta for her commitment to decolonizing institutions. Reneltta is the first Inuk and first Indigenous woman to direct at The Stratford Festival. There she was awarded the Tyrone Guthrie – Derek F. Mitchell Artistic Director’s Award for her direction of the The Breathing Hole. She works at the National Gallery of Canada in Indigenous Ways & Decolonization.

Joseph K. Kasau Wa Mambwe (Him/His)

I’m an artist with a cross-disciplinary practice whose gesture is built around the urgency to produce new narratives. From theater and cinema to photography, installation and creative writing, my artistic work addresses the complexity of memory and identity in a postcolonial urban context. My research and productions pay close attention to social interactions, highlighting power relations and proposing alternatives for change and togetherness.

Tracy Gentles (she/her)

Tracy is the Artistic Director/CEO of SICK! Festival (UK). With over 20 years’ experience at the intersection of arts, health, and social justice, her work — driven by lived experience — amplifies critical voices underrepresented within the arts and broader society. Previously, Tracy was the founding Director of the structural support organisation Something To Aim For and the arts and health platform The Sick of the Fringe.

Quito Tembe (he/him)

He is currently Curator at Maputo international platform for contemporary art KINANI, Co-curator of Düsseldorf internationale Tanzmesse nrw 2021-2024, Guest Curator of La Biennale de la Danse of Lyon 2025.  He was recognized with the high distinction of the “chevalier des arts et des lettres” medal by the French government in 2013. Quito Tembe has a degree in management and cultural studies. He started his career as a dancer and theatre actor, but has also worked in set and lighting design for international films as well as dance and performance productions. As a cultural manager, Quito created one of the largest street festivals, Aldeia Cultural, as well as the contemporary art project Tridisciplinary. He is also the artistic director of the international platform for contemporary dance KINANI. He is currently involved in the development of artistic tours on the African continent and, on a national level, in the collaboration between platforms and festivals through the Othàma platform. Furthermore, Quito Tembe is co-curator of the festival Festival Afro-Vibes 2021 in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, and a member artistic director of the festival Danse l’Afrique Dance 2021 in Marrakech, Morocco. In November 2023, KINANI host the Biennale de la Danse en Afrique.

Liliona Quarmyne (she/her)

Liliona has an eclectic background that has taken her through many performance styles on four different continents. From Ghana and the Philippines and now based in Kjipuktuk (Halifax), on the unceded territory of the Mi’kmaq people, Liliona is an experienced curator, dancer, choreographer, actor, singer, and organizer. She concurrently serves as the Artistic Director of Live Art Dance (liveartdance.ca) and maintains her own artistic practice. Liliona has created and performed with various organizations, including the Arrivals Legacy Project, dance Immersion, Rooted Dance Projects, Kinetic, Zuppa Theatre, Neptune Theatre, FODAR, Mayworks Kjipuktuk, Prismatic, Festival Antigonish, and more. Liliona also has extensive teaching experience and facilitates social justice community programming. The scope of Liliona’s work is broad, but is particularly focused on the relationship between art and social justice, on the body’s ability to carry ancestral memory, and on the role the performing arts can play in creating change. Liliona loves to work in collaboration and community, and is mom to two wonderful kids.