Artistic Director

Annette is a writer, broadcaster, actor, producer and theatre-maker.

Since 2013 she has been the Executive Producer of Contemporary Asian Australian Performance (CAAP) where she has been highly influential in forging professional pathways for Asian Australian artists, and developing compelling new works that bring contemporary Asian Australian stories to festival stages. In 2021, her role transitions to Artistic Director.

 

General Manager

Suzanne comes to CAAP with a diverse range of experience spanning Performing Arts, Marketing and Investment. Her creative & corporate experience has led to representation at Board level within Arts companies and service organisations, and creative roles across Independent and Mainstage Theatre.

Creative Producer

Priyanka is a lighting designer, producer, installation designer and a theatre maker. 

She comes to CAAP after four years at Carriageworks. With an impressive slate of technical, producing, design and business skills, her time at Carriageworks saw her move from Senior to Lead Technician and then into the producing team, with her most recent role as their Producer - Commercial Events. 

Chair

Elaine Chia, whose career spans music, theatre and visual arts, is a passionate advocate for the arts, and is currently the Executive Director at the Adelaide Festival.

Prior to relocating to Adelaide, Elaine was CEO of City Recital Hall in Sydney. Under a curated venue model, the 1238- seat concert hall, affectionately known as Angel Place, presented and hosted annual program of over 500 concerts and events.

Deputy Chair

Ien Ang is Distinguished Professor of Cultural Studies at the Institute for Culture and Society, Western Sydney University, of which she was the founding director until 2014. She gained her PhD from the University of Amsterdam (the Netherlands).

Ien’s internationally acclaimed books include Watching Dallas: Soap Opera and the Melodramatic Imagination (1985), Desperately Seeking the Audience (1991) and On Not Speaking Chinese: Living Between Asia and the West (2001).

 

Treasurer

Gary is a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants has been partner of the accounting firm, Rosenfeld Kant & Co since 1994. Gary provides accounting, audit, taxation and financial planning services to a diversified range of clients including many in the arts industry.

Secretary

Karilyn Brown was appointed Course Leader, NIDA MFA (Cultural Leadership) in January 2019.

Prior to that, Karilyn was the CEO of Performing Lines (2013-2018) and General Manager of the International Federation of Arts Councils and Culture (2009-2013).

William Yang was born in North Queensland, Australia. He moved to Sydney in 1969 and worked as a freelance photographer documenting Sydney’s social life which included the glamorous, celebrity set and the hedonistic, sub-cultural, gay community.

In 1989 he integrated his skills as a writer and a visual artist. He began to perform monologues with slide projection in the theatre. These told personal stories and explored issues of identity. He has done eleven full-length works and most of them have toured the world.

Simon Chan is the Director of Art Atrium, an art gallery exhibiting contemporary Australian, Asian and Aboriginal art with a special focus on cross cultural collaboration and expression in art as a reflection of our multicultural society in a globalised world. Simon is also a practising architect and Director of SCA Architects.

Linly has worked in various roles in the arts across festivals, theatre, music and dance for the past 12 years. Since 2016, she has worked at City Recital Hall initially as Marketing Manager before moving into her current role of Producer.

Prior to this, she held marketing positions at Sydney Writers’ Festival, Darwin Festival, Darlinghurst Theatre Company, Sydney Festival and The New Zealand Dance Company. At Sydney Writers’ Festival, Linly also programmed and managed the Festival's education, children's and young adults, and suburban and regional event programs.

Courtney Stewart is an actor, director, dramaturg, dancer and teaching artist. In 2021 she was awarded the Richard Wherrett Fellowship at Sydney Theatre Company where she will also work as dramaturg on Playing Beatie Bow by Kate Mulvaney. She will  direct the premiere season of Michelle Law’s Miss Peony  for Belvoir St Theatre.

Elizabeth Pakchung is a company director, lawyer, and supporter of fashion, art and architecture. She is currently a Director of H&M Australia & NZ (part of the global fashion H&M Group), Oranges & Sardines Foundation, Gallery 4A Centre for Contemporary Asian Art, and Contemporary Asian Australian Performance.