International Guests

Theatre director, playwright, co-founder: Boş Sahne; Member of the executive board: Kült Kavaklıdere

graduated from METU with a degree in Industrial Engineering. He was an active member of METU Players between 2008 and 2016. In 2019, he completed his training at Estudis Berty Tovias in Barcelona, an international physical theatre school inspired by the pedagogy of Jacques Lecoq. Along the way, he took part in a wide range of workshops in Türkiye and abroad, deepening his practice in physical theatre, storytelling, acting, and percussion. His work spans both adult and children’s/young audiences theatre, driven by a sustained curiosity about the expressive and narrative possibilities of storytelling on stage. As a playwright, director, performer, and musician, he has developed and presented productions with Boş Sahne — an Ankara-based theatre company of which he is a founding member — as well as in collaboration with other theatre groups and institutions. Beyond his stage work, he is part of the coordinating team of Kült Kavaklıdere and serves on the Board of ASSITEJ Türkiye. He also shares his practice through acting workshops focused on physical theatre, storytelling, clown, and rhythm.

www.kultkavaklidere.org

www.bossahne.com

Cultural producer, president: ASSITEJ Mongolia

Uyanga Ayurzana is a passionate advocate for quality theatre education and the founder of
Bamboo Theatre, Mongolia’s first private interactive theatre for children and youth, established in
2017. For over eight years, Bamboo Theatre has provided access to performing arts education for
children ages 0–12 through its plays and enrichment programs. Uyanga also serves as the founder
and Board Chair of ASSITEJ Mongolia, the national center of ASSITEJ International, where she works
forward to collaboration and the growth of theatre for young audiences nationwide. Her leadership
extends internationally through Wanderlust, Mongolia’s first international touring theatre festival,
selected by ASSITEJ International’s Regional Cooperation Programme, marking a milestone in the
country’s cultural exchange.

www.assitejmongolia.org

Performance artist, performer, director, cultural manager

Performing artist trained as an actress at the University of Chile and MA Devised Theatre at Dartington College of Arts, UK, Paula has been involved in stage direction and university teaching for 20 years. Her artistic research is focused on the evidence of the co-presence between audiences, artists, communities, sites and specific contexts, on which she has directed more than 20 projects. Generating actions of relationship and audience engagement, the inclusion of citizenship within the creative processes, the development of playwriting that includes the spatial/territorial/social contexts and the biographies of the casts -professionals or citizens- are some of the strategies Paula proposes to develop her practice as an artistic research. In her works she explores site specific (urban or rural) as an act of re-reading and as an invitation to re-inhabit collective spaces that may go unnoticed in everyday life. Her works have been exhibited both in Chile and abroad, in the halls of heritage buildings such as museums or post offices, in parks, in abandoned factories, in rural landscapes, among others. She has also presented projects in theaters, understanding the theater building as a public space, including the architecture or history of the theater building itself within the proposal. He currently directs the MA Research for artistic creation at Universidad Mayor, Chile.

www.paulaarosgho.cl

photo: Lindsay Morris, cortesia the watermill cente

Artistic director: Theatre YOUNG, Autumn IS Festival, GOAT Youth Theatre Festival

Han Bao is a theatre curator and cultural manager who currently serves as Programme Director of Theatre YOUNG in Shanghai, a position she has held since 2022. In this role, she oversees the theatre’s artistic programming, original productions, arts education initiatives, and scholarly activities. She is also a council member of the Shanghai Youth Literature and Art Federation and works as a curator of both the Autumn IS Festival and the GOAT Youth Theatre Festival. Han Bao began her career in academia, teaching in the Department of Dramatic Literature at the Shanghai Theatre Academy in 2005. From 2009 to 2021, she worked as Programme Director at major cultural venues including Modern Drama Valley and the 1862 Theater, where she played a key role in shaping contemporary theatre programming in Shanghai. Since 2010, she has collaborated with the Hong Kong Arts Development Council to regularly present Hong Kong productions in Shanghai, fostering ongoing artistic exchange. More recently, since 2023, she has been engaged in developing theatre exchange projects between China and Germany, further expanding her international curatorial work.

Executive director: Think Circus

Kat is a circus producer, circus artist and director of Think Circus (Edinburgh). Specialising in ground-based circus theatre, Kat has performed internationally as a hula hoop artist since 2009, and founded Think Circus in 2016, which delivers social circus programmes, artist development and a performance agency for the benefit of young people and circus professionals in Scotland. Kat is experienced in fundraising and small business consulting. She holds a degree in English Literature and a diploma in physical theatre. Kat is drawn to the overlap between envisioning other worlds through captivating theatre, and empowering audiences to make positive choices for community benefit and social change.

https://thinkcircus.co.uk/

Artist; founder, coordinator: Cultterra

Fjorida Cenaj is an artist, cultural manager, and youth worker whose practice engages with film, movement, and participatory methodologies to explore questions of identity, social justice, and collective experience. She is co-founder of CULTTERRA, a youth-led association based in Elefsina, Greece, developing community-driven cultural initiatives that foreground decentralization and public participation. She has contributed to the artistic programme of 2023 Eleusis European Capital of Culture as a Public Participation Support Assistant and as part of the artistic staff. She was co-coordinator of the Erasmus+ project “From Disruptive Places to Hidden Gems,” awarded National Winner for Greece at the European Charlemagne Youth Prize 2026 and recognized as a Good Practice.

www.cultterra.org

General coordinator, actor, theatre director: Theatre en Folie

Moïse Bruno Esseba Bilibime is an artist, author, actor, director and animation. Socio-cultural, youth support option. He is well known in the performing arts. He lives and works in Cameroon. He currently coordinates the cultural association "THÉÂTRE EN FOLIE", but he is active in the cultural circles of his country. Today, Junior Esseba is the hub of the show for young audiences. He tackled the great classics that have been programmed in almost all the cultural spaces of his country. He wants to create shows that are accessible to all. Currently, his theatre is a commitment to behavioural change and the dignity of people.

Program support for the NRW KULTURsekretariat

Nelly Thea Köster is a director and musician working interdisciplinarily across film, theater, dance, and music at the intersection of art and society. Alongside her freelance work as a musician and director, she has directed productions for the international project Europefiction, which has previously brought together young people and artists from across Europe, and was part of the artistic leadership team of the Europefiction Summercamp. She collaborates with renowned institutions such as Berliner Festspiele and designed an interdisciplinary Impro Camp for Jazzfest Berlin, where she also led workshops. Her community projects, including ONE DAY HAUSE and ARRIVAL CITY 2.0, engage large ensembles in social spaces. She has also directed award-winning dance film productions, including one that received a prize for best choreography. Her work often explores themes of home and cultural identity. As part of an artist collective, she co-founded an association for cultural education in the region Bergisches Land in North Rhine-Westphalia. Since 2019, she has been part of the team of the International Visitors Programme of the NRW KULTURsekretariat. She lives in Wuppertal and Berlin.

www.nellykoester.com