International Presenter Invitation

Yogyakarta (Indonesia)
Producer

Muhammad Abe lives and works in Yogyakarta. He completed his postgraduate studies in Performance and Visual Arts Studies at the Graduate School of Universitas Gadjah Mada. Abe is the Director of the Indonesia Dramatic Reading Festival and Deputy Director of the Indonesian Performance and Theatre Conference, as well as a co-initiator and producer of Gymnastik Emporium. In 2019, he produced the Asia Playwrights Meeting in Yogyakarta. Together with the Indonesian Performance and Theatre Conference, he organized the Postdramatic Theatre Workshop in 2024 and served as facilitator for the Indonesian Producers Workshop (2023–2024) in collaboration with Yayasan Kelola. In 2025, he co-organized a documentary theatre workshop with aRRRah. In addition, Abe works as an independent producer for several Indonesian performance artists.

Melbourne (Australia)
Creative Director, CEO

Simon Abrahams is recognised as one of Australia’s arts and cultural leaders, with a practice that explores the intersection of art and civic participation. Since 2015, Simon has served as Creative Director & CEO of Melbourne Fringe. He is currently also Co‑Curator for Theatre der Welt Chemnitz 2026, Germany’s major international theatre festival. He is also a Ministerial appointment to the Creative Workplaces Council, Trustee of the Betty Amsden Foundation, and sits on the International Society for the Performing Arts programming committee (New York). Simon co‑founded Theatre Network Australia, serving as Chair from 2010 to 2017, and in 2024 co‑authored Next Generation Now, a strategic advice report for Creative Australia on children, young people and the arts. Previously, Simon served as Head of Programming at the Wheeler Centre and Executive Producer & Co‑CEO of Polyglot Theatre. Simon also consults widely as advisor, facilitator, mentor and arts consultant, with expertise in inclusive leadership, dramaturgy, work for children, and art in public space.
www.simonabrahams.com.au

Yogyakarta (Indonesia)
Artistic Director of Paradance Platform

Nia Agustina has been engaged in nurturing young practitioners in Indonesia’s dance field through writing, curating, and dramaturgy since founding Paradance Platform in 2014, a small initiative supporting emerging Indonesian dance artists based in Yogyakarta. She served as Co-curator of the Indonesian Dance Festival (2016–2024) and co-founded gelaran.id, a performance and performing arts critique website, with her husband Ahmad Jalidu. Her international experience includes a fellowship from The Japan Foundation Asia Center (2020) to research dance platforms in Japan, participation in the South East Asia Critical Ecologies residency for performance writers and critics by Centre42, Singapore (2021), and member of IETM Global Connector (2021–2022). In 2024, she was one of the jury for the ZKB PRIZes at Zurich Theater Spektakel. She holds a master degree of Mathematics Education from Universitas Negeri Yogyakarta (Yogyakarta State University).
https://niaagustinarchives.wordpress.com/

Bangkok (Thailand)
Critic

Amitha Amranand is an independent writer and performing arts critic based in Bangkok. She co-founded and co-hosted Bangkok Offstage, the first bilingual podcast on the performing arts in Thailand and Asia. She currently writes at Expanse Journal, her own Substack publication about the arts.
https://expansejournal.substack.com/

Bangkok (Thailand)
Project Manager/Coordinator

Varissara is an independent arts manager with a broad interest in contemporary art fields. She holds an MBA in Social Design Studies from Rikkyo University, Japan. Before transitioning to the arts sector, she worked in business development for two years. She then joined the Bangkok Art and Culture Centre (BACC) as a foundation officer, focusing on sponsorship and fundraising until the end of 2019. In 2020, she became a core team member of the Bangkok International Children's Theatre Festival (BICT Fest) as a project manager. Currently, Varissara is working as BICT Fest's core team member while also working as an Executive Director for Bangkok International Performing Arts Meeting (BIPAM).

Berlin (Germany)
Dramaturge

Helena Eckert is a dramaturge and performing arts curator. She will be joining the new artistic team at the Volksbühne in Berlin under the direction of Matthias Lilienthal. Previously, she worked as an in-house dramaturge at the Schauspielhaus Zürich in Switzerland and the Münchner Kammerspiele in Germany. She has also worked as a freelance dramaturge across disciplines in theater, visual arts, and documentary film.Helena Eckert studied philosophy at the University of Hildesheim and the UFPA in Belém do Pará, Brazil and the MA in Critical Studies at the Academy of Fine Arts in Vienna, Austria. She earned a degree in visual anthropology from Goldsmiths, University of London, where her research focused on multigenerational memory, nationalism, and nature aesthetics.

Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia)
Producer/ International Business Development Director at CloudJoi

Chong Hong is the International Business Development Director at CloudJoi, where he leads partnerships with Malaysian arts organisations, festivals, and industry stakeholders to strengthen the performing arts ecosystem. His work focuses on building collaborations, expanding opportunities, and driving initiatives that support the growth of the industry locally and internationally. As co-founder of W Productions, Chong Hong works with international and local performing arts companies to bring touring productions to Malaysia, offering marketing, production, visa, and technical support. W Productions also produces community-focused projects, commercial ventures, and commissioned works that engage diverse audiences. Currently, his work centers on audience-driven initiatives, with a strong passion for fostering meaningful connections and creating impactful cultural experiences. Through both CloudJoi and W Productions, Chong Hong is dedicated to community development, audience expansion, and making the arts more accessible while empowering local practitioners.

Penang (Malaysia)
Dancer, Producer

Luvenia Kalia is a dancer, producer, and emerging dance anthropologist with more than 25 years of experience in the performing arts. Her work is rooted in an ecological perspective, employing place-responsive approaches to create performances that intertwine embodied research with collective memory. She holds a BFA from Slippery Rock University, a Diploma from Lasalle College of the Arts, and an International Master’s in Dance Knowledge, Practice, and Heritage (Choreomundus). Dedicated to collaboration, cultural exchange, and lived experience, Luvenia also serves as a producer at Maitree House, where she curates digital storytelling projects that nurture belonging and strengthen human connection.
https://www.instagram.com/luvkalia

Singapore
Arts Manager/Producer

An arts manager with over 20 years of experience working in various areas of arts and culture, including festival management, marketing, fundraising, grant assessment and application, and running a creative space (72-13), Mervyn has worked with local, regional, and international artists and cultural workers across a range of disciplines. Mervyn previously had stints at Esplanade – Theatres On The Bay and T:>Works (formerly known as TheatreWorks) in Singapore. Currently a Senior Producer with the Singapore International Festival of Arts (SIFA), Mervyn’s approach combines strategic planning with a deep sensitivity to artistic vision, enabling him to bridge the gap between creative ideas and operational realities.
https://sifa.sg/

Basel (Switzerland)
Theatre Critic, Radio editor at SRF2Kultur, Coach/Organizational Consultant

Dagmar Walser is a theatre critic and radio editor at Swiss Radio SRF2Kultur and works independently as a coach for individuals and teams and organisational consultant for cultural institutions. She was in the program group of the international festival Zürcher Theater Spektakel from 2007 – 2017. She has completed her studies in Coaching, Supervision and Mediation at ZHAW in Zürich in 2024 with a master thesis on Organisational Resilience. Guest lecturer at ZHDK in Zürich. She lives in Basel/Switzerland.