My Gurus

 LOIS KEIDAN
As Director of Live Arts at the ICA between 1992 and 1997, Lois introduced artists such as Franko B and Ron Athey to London, creating what is now a legendary era for performance and interdisciplinary art in the capital. Ten years ago she co-founded the Live Art Development Agency. This has been at the fulcrum of the developments in contemporary performance ever since. Always putting the artist first, her attitude to her work is totally selfless and self-effacing. Inequality of opportunity or reward for artists incenses Lois, and it’s a directed, effective passion and one of the inspirational things about her. Lois has given me and many others the confidence to strike out into what is possibly the most vibrant field in the arts today. She has been unstinting in her support at difficult times, and has been an unfailing advocate for artforms which show us what the future will look like.

JUDITH KNIGHT and GILL LLOYD
They have been at the forefront of UK performance practice for over 30 years, setting up Artsadmin in 1979. It’s since become much more than a unique producing organisation. Starting out with a keen concern to redress imbalances in the support available for British performance, Judith and Gill have gone on to initiate numerous pan-European and international collaborations, allowing UK artists to create reputations throughout the world. Their longevity is only matched by their desire to enable great work from great artists ranging from Bobby Baker to Richard Dedominici and Curious. They’ve more than sustained this over the years, which is something I hugely admire.

JULIA BARDSLEY
Joint Artistic Director of the Leicester Haymarket, and then of the Young Vic in the 90s, Julia could, according to the Guardian and many others, “have been running the National by now”. Instead she’s removed herself from theatre administration, maintaining a commitment to her own practice as an artist. Anyone who saw her recent ‘Aftermaths’ for the Spill Festival, or ‘Improvements on Nature’ with Andrew Poppy at Chelsea, will assert how they’ve been moved by the extraordinary sharpness of her artistic vision. When I’m in board meetings or committees I privately thank her for staying clear of them. Without her strength and convictions, London’s contemporary performance scene would be a much poorer place.