About

Artistic Director

Artistic Vision 2008–11

My ambition for the next four Festivals is to create a global conversation on the streets of Perth.

The Perth Festival is a celebratory time of the year when we can enjoy our city and its surrounds at their best, and share this experience with the rest of the world. It is also a time to celebrate the artists within our own community and the unique view of the world that they represent.

With a strong international reputation among the world’s artists – no small feat for an organisation based in one of the most isolated cities in the world – the Perth Festival is still committed to its original charter of pursuing excellence in the arts by presenting an international arts festival while also remaining a festival for the people of Western Australia.

Over the next four years, the programme will fall into four main areas:

International - excellence and diversity from artists around the world who are at the forefront of their practice

Life of the City - exploring the built environment of the CBD and the natural environment of the wider metropolitan region

Tales of the West - bringing the Western Australian voice to our programme in recognition of our own cultural richness

Celebrating Indigenous Culture - significant Indigenous stories, images and performances from around Australia are mythologies that resonate with all of us.

We will continue to present those programmes that have proved popular with our audiences such as Lotterywest Festival Films (at Somerville Auditorium and Joondalup Pines Picture Garden), Perth Writers Festival, and Contemporary Music programmes. These programmes will be refocused through exciting and inspiring new venues to allow for expansion in response to their growing popularity.

We strive to take the Festival experience to as many people as possible, not only as a celebration of the arts, but also as a celebration of ourselves.

Shelagh Magadza
Artistic Director