Keynotes

Keynotes / Welcome Speeches

John O’ Toole

Honorary Professorial Fellow, University of Melbourne, Australia

John O’Toole is an Australian drama and arts educator, formerly Professor of Drama and Applied Theatre at Griffith University, and Foundation Chair of Arts Education at University of Melbourne. He has been teaching, researching and writing on drama and applied theatre for fifty years, with all ages, and on six continents. He has written and co-written over twenty books, including student textbooks, teachers’ texts, research and research methods in the arts. He was Lead Writer for The Arts and for Drama in the 2013 Australian National Curriculum. He is active in curriculum and professional association development, founder-member of Drama Queensland and Drama Australia, and Convenor of IDEA 95 triennial Congress. In 2002 he received the American Alliance for Theatre and Education Lifetime Research award. In 2014, he was awarded membership of the Order of Australia (AM) for his services to drama education.

Sanja Krsmanović Tasić

President of the International Drama/Theatre and Education Association-IDEA, Chair of the World Alliance for Arts Education (WAAE), President of Center for Drama in Education and Art-CEDEUM, Serbia

Sanja Krsmanović Tasić is a drama/theatre education expert, theatre director, actress, choreographer, with extensive experience in creating, producing and curating programs in performance art and art education. Recognised for her activism and artistry, addresses to critical political and social issues. A strong advocate for using art and art education as a tool for transformation and healing. President of the International Drama/Theatre and Education Association-(IDEA), the current Chair of the Executive Forum of the World Alliance for Arts Education. President of Centre for Drama in Education and Art-(CEDEUM) in Serbia. Artistic director and founder of Hleb Teatar. As an internationally acclaimed expert, she conducts workshops and master classes blending her experience from dance and laboratory theatre into an original approach and methodology of devising applicable for work with children, youth, seniors, as well as professionals.

Maria Clara Martin

UNHCR Representative in Greece

UNHCR Representative in Greece from November 2021, she served as Representative in Ecuador between 2015 and 2020. She also served as Head of the Americas Section of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights in Geneva, as Head of the Appeals and Reports Unit at UNHCR HQ, Senior Liaison Officer at UNHCR Brussels and worked in Rwanda and Mozambique with UNHCR. She was a Human Rights Observer in Haiti with the UN/OAS International Civilian Mission. She has worked as a volunteer at the Colombian Commission of Jurists and with the World Food Programme and Amnesty International in London, where she was a researcher. Finally, she has worked as a producer at the BBC. She holds a post-graduate diploma in human rights from Andres Bello University in Caracas, an MA in Latin American studies from the University of London and a BA in Applied Modern Languages from the University of Paris III.

Kostis Papaioannou

Director of “SIMEIO: for the Study and Confrontation of the Right-Wing Extremists”, Greece

Kostis Papaioannou has a degree in history and a postgraduate degree in political science. He teaches at the Greek-French School of Agia Paraskevi Athens. He has been involved in adult education, lifelong learning and intercultural education. He was president of the National Commission for Human Rights and general secretary for human rights. He was also president of the Greek Section of Amnesty International. He pioneered the establishment of the Racist Violence Recording Network, participated in the coordination of the Observatory in the Golden Dawn trial and directs "SIMEIO: for the Study and Confrontation of the Right-Wing Extremists”. He is the author of several educational books and textbooks: "Wild History for Big Kids: From fascism to democracy against the new extreme right" (Polis) & "The Clean Hands of Golden Dawn: Applications of Nazi Purity"(Metaixmio). He is a frequent contributor to electronic and print media.

Kostas Magos

Professor of Intercultural Education, University of Thessaly, Greece

Kostas Magos is a Professor of Intercultural Education in the Department of Early Childhood Education at the University of Thessaly. His academic interests revolve around the theory and practice of intercultural dimensions in both formal and non-formal education and the use of various art forms to promote intercultural values. He has participated in a significant number of research projects on intercultural education and has published articles on these topics in Greek and international academic journals.

Sanjoy Ganguly

Founder and Artistic Director at Jana Sanskriti Centre for Theatre of the Oppressed, West Bengal, India

Sanjoy Ganguly’s and Jana Sanskriti’s journey began from a small village in the Sunderbans (West Bengal) in 1985. Today it has 30 satellite theatre teams in West Bengal and in 9 more states of India. These teams reach at least 2,00,000 spectators every year through their performances. As Augusto Boal said, “Jana Sanskriti is the largest and the longest lasting forum theatre operation in the world”. Of the teams in West Bengal, nine are all-women. “Jana Sanskriti” also organises a bi-annual Forum Theatre festival called Muktadhara since 2004. The important reason for organizing this Festival is that it becomes an international meeting ground for the Forum Theatre teams across the world as well as those trained by Jana Sanskriti all over India. Each of these teams is active in their own regions; most of them are also heading organizations engaged in struggles to assert the rights of the marginalized. In November 2015, Jana Sanskriti International Research and Resource Institute (JSIRRI) came into being unifying artist-activists from across the world justifying the Indian ethos represented in "Vasudhaiva Kutum Bakum" (The World Is One Family).