Brave New World Producties | Lead Partner
Brave New World Producties (BNWP) in the Netherlands is the Lead Partner in the project. This cultural producing organisation was founded in January 2019 by two former colleagues from Leeuwarden-Friesland European Cultural Capital 2018 – Claudia Woolgar (Creative Director) and Jan van Erve (Commercial Director).
Involved in the project since mid 2020, Woolgar assisted in shaping the European Arts & Society cross-sector themes in the project and was instrumental in identifying many of the partners and, along with AOB in shaping the project to the extraordinary odyssey it now is. Special thanks are due to Bill McAlistair who generously shared his contacts in the search for the right partners.
BNWP’s mission is to programme international projects in Friesland (and beyond!) with a strong ties to young and emerging artists in the region, thereby investing in professional development and giving emerging artists the chance to work collaboratively on an international level. Events always take place in a unique location to reach as broad a public as possible.
In 2019 BNWP presented the Argentinian company, Fuerza Bruta, housing this 360 degree immersive show in a tent outside a steel factory in Leeuwarden. Alongside the main performance was a side programme involving young bands and visual artists. Whilst they were here, Fuerza Bruta gave two workshops:
– one to dancers in training at D-Drive;
– one for young people from deprived neighbourhoods in Leeuwarden.
Post-Covid in 2022 BNWP produced CARGO Shanghai-Friesland working with Rimini Protokoll. The show was a documentary truck ride and offered a surprising and unique experience to an audience of 46 people per show over six weeks in the summer of 2022. The Netherlands is one of the largest exporters of milk and dairy products in the world. China is one of its biggest markets. The project explored these links and involved a young team of Frisian makers, two retired professional truck drivers, and two Chinese singers, with a text developed locally incorporating two dairy farmers from the region.
BNWP is co-producing the Eleusis step of ULYSSES: European Odyssey: Metamorphosea. Resulting from a Tandem European Cultural Programme, the event will be presented within the programme of Eleusis European Capital of Culture 2023. It assembles a young team under the experienced location director, Sjoerd Wagenaar with capacity building for young Greek and Frisian makers built into the project. The event will culminate in a performance at the graveyard of dumped ships in Eleusis.
BNWP is also leading the Istanbul step of ULYSSES: European Odyssey and has engaged Turkish film maker Gülen Guler to produce the event in Istanbul. An exhibition of short videos from Istanbul will be presented in Leeuwarden in 2023 as part of the Noorderlicht episode.
BNWP Team
Claudia Woolgar is an experienced international producer, programmer, consultant and creative advisor. Her LinkedIn profile can be found here.
Jan van Erve has worked in the sport and cultural worlds as a commercial director and sponsorship manager. His LinkedIn profile can be found here.
