With cultural landscapes changing at a rapid pace, the need to balance artistic pursuits and audience development has become a common challenge for producers across all disciplines. To reflect the theme of this year’s Producers’ Network Meeting & Forum – “Championing Innovation” – our Public Forum brings together three representatives from mainland China, Taiwan and the UK to share their experiences of challenging the status quo.

Emma Gladstone, Artistic Director and Chief Executive of Dance Umbrella in the UK, shares her experience of repositioning and rebranding a long-established international festival, looking at the progress made in reaching new audiences and the tools she employs day to day to maintain a spirit of invention. Crystal D, an independent curator working in mainland China, shares her experience of organising the Xintiandi Performing Arts Festival in Shanghai, examining the ways in which the festival has integrated performing arts into the city’s commercial and public arenas, and the opportunities that the use of innovative performance spaces has been created for practitioners. And Lin Fang-Yi, an independent curator, critic and composer in Taiwan, shares her experience of creating a comprehensive new support system to help promote contemporary music within the developing Taiwanese music industry and nurture the international development of Taiwanese musicians.