Visiting Experts: Yana Ross
This public talk will open up a broader discourse on how city politics and cultural policy often influence the outcome of artistic tenures as part of the Visiting Experts lecture series.
City politics, cultural policy and artistic tenures
From 2019 till 2024, a team of 8 artists moved to Zürich to be part of artistic leadership in charge of Schauspielhaus, an institution with the annual budget of 38 million CHF. Yana Ross looks back at this crash course in programming, shaping and steering this legendary house, as well as discussing radical choices of dramaturgy and adaptation material to offer the viewers a different angle on literature and contemporary issues in society. This public talk will open up a broader discourse on how city politics and cultural policy often influence the outcome of artistic tenures.
Bio
Yana Ross is a cultural nomad — since age 5 she has been traveling through a vast variety of countries and cultures, absorbing experiences and adapting to various conditions of life and work. Her artistic passion is digging deep into a foreign culture to unveil a taboo subject which often is invisible to the locals. She then explores the themes in collaborative and improvisational methods often based on classical texts but askued to transmit the main subject of research. Her Swedish Uncle Vanya took on ideas of “forced” inheritance and gender equalities, Our Class in Vilnius with local history of genocide and Icelandic “Salka Valka” with a subject of incest and child abuse in a local society. Many of international productions since 2013 have been awarded Best Director award in respective countries. Ross is the first female director to work on legendary Volksbuehne stage in Berlin (Macbeth 2008) and first female director who won the Golden Cross for best performance in Lithuania (2014, 2019) She was part of the artistic team at Schauspielhaus Zurich where during the 5-year tenure she shaped and navigated a state institution together with other seven artists. She now stages regularly at Berliner Ensemble, Germany and explores new French-language artistic terrains.
The open lecture is part of the Visiting Experts series where international experts in the arts and sciences, invited by the Theatre Academy, share their knowledge.
City politics, cultural policy and artistic tenures
From 2019 till 2024, a team of 8 artists moved to Zürich to be part of artistic leadership in charge of Schauspielhaus, an institution with the annual budget of 38 million CHF. Yana Ross looks back at this crash course in programming, shaping and steering this legendary house, as well as discussing radical choices of dramaturgy and adaptation material to offer the viewers a different angle on literature and contemporary issues in society. This public talk will open up a broader discourse on how city politics and cultural policy often influence the outcome of artistic tenures.
Bio
Yana Ross is a cultural nomad — since age 5 she has been traveling through a vast variety of countries and cultures, absorbing experiences and adapting to various conditions of life and work. Her artistic passion is digging deep into a foreign culture to unveil a taboo subject which often is invisible to the locals. She then explores the themes in collaborative and improvisational methods often based on classical texts but askued to transmit the main subject of research. Her Swedish Uncle Vanya took on ideas of “forced” inheritance and gender equalities, Our Class in Vilnius with local history of genocide and Icelandic “Salka Valka” with a subject of incest and child abuse in a local society. Many of international productions since 2013 have been awarded Best Director award in respective countries. Ross is the first female director to work on legendary Volksbuehne stage in Berlin (Macbeth 2008) and first female director who won the Golden Cross for best performance in Lithuania (2014, 2019) She was part of the artistic team at Schauspielhaus Zurich where during the 5-year tenure she shaped and navigated a state institution together with other seven artists. She now stages regularly at Berliner Ensemble, Germany and explores new French-language artistic terrains.
The open lecture is part of the Visiting Experts series where international experts in the arts and sciences, invited by the Theatre Academy, share their knowledge.