Stage talks - 2026 edition
The 2026 Stage Talks bring together critics, programmers, producers and cultural professionals for three conversations exploring visibility, access to the international festival circuit, and opportunities for artistic mobility across Europe.
1. Stage Talk
Who Creates Visibility? Critics, Programmers and Cultural Media
WHEN:
Saturday, 12 September 2026 10:00 – 11:00
VENUE:
Gallery of the Bosnian Cultural Center (BKC)
About the Talk
Artistic visibility today depends not only on the quality of the work, but also on how that work is presented, communicated and promoted. PR, marketing, production and self-presentation increasingly shape how artists and performances are discovered, understood and remembered. Photographs, videos, social media, press materials and professional communication all contribute to an artist’s public and international presence. This Stage Talk explores who is responsible for creating visibility today, how artists and organisations can communicate their work effectively, and to what extent visibility depends on the tools, strategies and networks used to present it.
LINEUP:
Natasha Tripney — The Stage / SEEstage
Sasho Ognenovski – Perun Artis
Angela Fegers – Apricot Productions
MODERATOR:
Emina Kovačević-Podgorčević
Biographies
Emina Kovačević-Podgorčević — Moderator
Emina Kovačević-Podgorčević, born in 1995, is a Bosnian-Herzegovinian theatre director, playwright and poet. She graduated in Dramaturgy from the Academy of Performing Arts in Sarajevo in 2021 and completed an MA in Advanced Theatre Practice at the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama in London as a Chevening Scholar. She is the author of the award-winning plays Farewell, California!, Perseids, and Mala (with Emina Omerović and Nedžma Čizmo), and the recipient of the Miodrag Žalica Award for Best Bosnian-Herzegovinian Play, as well as awards for Best Contemporary Play at the Theatre Games of Bosnia and Herzegovina in Jajce.
Natasha Tripney — The Stage / SEEstage
Natasha Tripney is a writer, editor and critic based in London and Belgrade. She is the international editor for The Stage. In 2011, she co-founded Exeunt, an online theatre magazine, which she edited until 2016. She is the editor of SEEstage.org, a platform for theatre criticism in South East Europe. She is a regular contributor to the Guardian and has also written for BBC Culture, The Independent, Vittles, Kosovo 2.0 and the New York Times.
Sasho Ognenovski — Perun Artis
Sasho Ognenovski, Ph.D., is a Macedonian writer, theatre critic and communicologist. He has published poetry, plays, novels and academic work on communication, semiotics, multiculturalism and theatre. He writes reviews and essays for Macedonian, Serbian and European publications and is editor-in-chief of Literary Elements and Elements.
Angela Fegers — Apricot Productions
Angela Fegers is a U.S.-American director, producer, and dancer from C. Florida, based between Berlin. She holds a BFA in Dance from New World School of the Arts and an Associate Degree in Media & Communications. In 2015, she moved to NYC, where she performed works by Cunningham, Lindy Fines, Erik Montes. In 2016, she moved to Europe for a more sustainable freelance career. In 2021, she co-founded Apricot Productions, a platform and community supporting 150+ artists. Its branch, Rooted, curates festivals and workshops collaborating with LAFT, Tanzbüro, and NYU. Her immersive works — The Hotel Who?, A Love Story, and La Séance — premiered in LA in 2022. She lectures at NYU Tisch. Angela is on the team at LAKE Studios since 2017, supporting marketing management for Submerge Festival.
2. Stage Talk
Who Gets In? Access, Cost and Gatekeeping in the International Festival Circuit
WHEN:
Saturday, 12 September 2026 12:00 – 13:00
VENUE:
Gallery of the Bosnian Cultural Center (BKC)
About the Talk
International mobility is often presented as an open field of opportunities, with festivals, showcase platforms, artists and mobility programmes creating pathways into international networks. Yet access to the international festival circuit remains far from equal, shaped not only by artistic quality but also by visibility, networks, funding, technical and linguistic requirements, geography and the resources needed for travel, translation, subtitling, professional materials and repeated applications. This Stage Talk examines who gains access to international festivals, who remains outside their networks, and how artistic selection intersects with the practical and often invisible conditions that determine whether a performance can travel — and who can afford to become international.
LINEUP:
Maximilian Zahn — Dramaturg and Programmer, Wiener Festwochen
Beka Vučo — Founder and President, My Balkans Inc.
Kryštof Koláček — Producer / Manager / Programmer, Divadlo X10
MODERATOR:
Ivana Cvetković Bajrović
Biographies
Ivana Cvetković Bajrović — Moderator
Ivana is an independent consultant and film producer based in Sarajevo. Since 2021, she has served as an external advisor to Heartefact Fund, providing strategic guidance, leadership coaching, and program support for initiatives advancing social cohesion and democratic values through culture and the arts. She is a board member of Dokufest, the leading documentary and short film festival in Southeast Europe, and chairwoman of the Balkans Forward Foundation. Previously, Ivana was the Europe program director at the National Endowment for Democracy, where she managed funding for civil society organizations, independent media, and cultural initiatives across Europe. In 2025, she co-produced a documentary film DOM, which premiered at the 82nd Venice International Film Festival.
Maximilian Zahn — Dramaturg and Programmer, Wiener Festwochen
Maximilian Zahn is a dramaturg and author working across theatre, dance, and performance. He studied Applied Theatre Studies and Dramaturgy in Giessen and Zagreb and participated in the Forum Text program at uniT Graz. He worked as a dramaturg at the international production house Künstler*innenhaus Mousonturm, where he was involved in both local and international collaborations. In 2025, he joined the Vienna Festival (Wiener Festwochen) as a dramaturg.
Beka Vučo — Founder and President, My Balkans Inc.
The guiding purpose of My Balkans is to support and encourage people to build a better, more just and open democratic society using arts, culture and education. My Balkans mission is multifold: to develop and produce projects, programs, and activities in the region and beyond; to raise social awareness; to build partnerships and alliances with individuals and organizations; and to support societies committed to justice and equality. All this, in order to promote freedom of expression, social openness, artistic excellence and educational advancement. The arts, culture, and education play an essential role in human development and help create safe spaces for free expression, exchanges, and mutual understanding and contribute to social equality, cohesion, innovation, and change.
Kryštof Koláček — Producer / Manager / Programmer, Divadlo X10
Kryštof Koláček is a cultural manager and producer with 20+ years of experience. Since 2014, he has led Divadlo X10, the 2023 Theatre of the Year in Czechia. In 2024, he was elected President of the European Association of Independent Performing Arts. He manages the Tripoint platform for ECoC České Budějovice 2028 and co-founded the Kutná Hora Performing Arts Festival. A significant milestone is his co-founding of Continental Drift (2024), a major Asia-Europe project facilitating cross-continental collaboration and artistic exchange. His career includes leadership roles at Municipal Theatres Kladno and A Studio Rubín, as well as managerial roles in the corporate sector. He also co-founded the Bavarian-Czech Platform, actively shaping the international independent cultural landscape.
3. Stage Talk
Who Gets to Move Across Europe? A Practical Introduction to Culture Moves Europe
WHEN:
Sunday, 13 September 2026 10:00 – 11:00
VENUE:
Gallery of the Bosnian Cultural Center (BKC)
About the Talk
International mobility can open opportunities for artists and cultural professionals to develop new work, exchange knowledge, build international partnerships and create lasting collaborations, but knowing that opportunities exist is not the same as knowing how to use them. This Stage Talk offers a practical introduction to Culture Moves Europe, focusing on the questions applicants actually face: eligibility, finding partners, developing a realistic project, navigating the application process and understanding what makes a strong mobility proposal. With particular attention to Southeast Europe and the performing arts, the conversation explores how artists and cultural professionals can turn an idea for international collaboration into an achievable mobility project, and how festivals, showcases and professional networks such as Sarajevo Theatre Showcase can become starting points for future partnerships.
LINEUP:
Kristina Fein — Grants Coordinator, Goethe-Institut / Culture Moves Europe
MODERATOR:
Asja Krsmanović Imamović
Biographies
Asja Krsmanović-Imamović — Moderator
Asja Krsmanović Imamović is a Bosnian dramaturge, screenwriter and cultural manager. A graduate of the Academy of Performing Arts in Sarajevo, she has worked across theatre, film and cultural project development for more than a decade. She has contributed to the Sarajevo Film Festival and leads the Atelier for Playwrights within STS.
Kristina Fein — Grants Coordinator, Goethe-Institut / Culture Moves Europe
Kristina Fein is a Grants Coordinator for Culture Moves Europe where she has spent the past four years supporting artists and cultural professionals in carrying out mobility projects with international partners across Creative Europe. Her focus is to make European funding schemes feel less intimidating and more within reach for artists, and she is glad to talk through how to navigate the application process.