Can curating become a way to build meaningful relationships with communities?
In contemporary performing arts, curatorial practice increasingly goes beyond presenting works—it engages with local contexts, responds
to public spaces, and questions existing structures.
In this public talk, the three mentors of Curating in Action reflect on the workshop as an experimental space shaped by field observation,
discussion, and collaboration. Drawing from their curatorial experiences, they explore how curating can serve as a medium for
understanding, connection, and collective engagement.
/ About the Speaker /
KENG Yi-Wei (Taiwan)
Dramaturg at the National Kaohsiung Center for the Arts (Weiwuying), and Adjunct Assistant Professor in the Department of Drama at both Taipei National University of the Arts and National Taiwan University of Arts.
He previously served as Artistic Director of the Taipei Arts Festival (2012–2017), Curator of the Taoyuan Iron Rose Art Festival (2018–2022), and Curator of the Tainan Arts Festival (2023–2024). He has received several honors, including the German-Taiwan Friendship Medal (2017), the Chevalier de l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres from France (2019), and the Goethe Medal (2023).
SOMA Chiaki (Japan)
Art producer, curator, and founder of NPO Arts Commons Tokyo, specializing in cross-disciplinary contemporary, socially engaged, and media art with VR/AR. She has directed numerous festivals across Japan, Asia, and Europe, including serving as the first Program Director of Festival/Tokyo (2009–2013) and Curator for Aichi Triennale (2019–2022). Since 2017, she has been Artistic Director of Theater Commons Tokyo and was the first non-Westerner Program Director of Theater der Welt in Germany (2023). She received the Chevalier de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres (2015) and Japan’s Art Encouragement Prize (2021). Currently, she is Associate Professor at Tokyo University of the Arts.
YOKOYAMA Yoshiji (Japan)
Dramaturg at Shizuoka Performing Arts Center (SPAC), programmer of the World Theatre Festival Shizuoka, board member of the Open Network for Performing Arts Managers (ON-PAM), and part-time lecturer at Gakushuin University, he was also a grantee of the Asian Cultural Council in 2016, a member of the Asian Producers' Platform (APP) planning team from 2017 to 2024, and a director of the Tokyo Festival World Competition 2019.
Yoshiji received a PhD in Performing Arts Studies from l'Université Paris X in 2008. His publications include La Grâce et l'Art du comédien. Pourquoi le théâtre a-t-il exclu le chant et la danse ? (Classiques Garnier, 2024).
