- AECFest
- ASEF
- Topic Talk
- SPRING Academy
Topic Talk: Who Tells the Story? Art, Power and Shared Histories
Topic talks are in-depth conversations on SPRING themes: current topics that matter. For centuries, Asia and Europe have shaped one another through trade, colonisation, migration and imagination. Yet many of the narratives that frame these relations still reflect unequal histories and inherited hierarchies. How can cultural practitioners challenge these frameworks today?
Cultural narratives have shaped how societies understand themselves and others. Museums, archives, visual arts, performing arts and academic institutions have played a decisive role in constructing these stories — defining what is preserved, what is displayed, and what is left unseen.
Today, questions around colonial collections, restitution, appropriation and representation challenge long-standing structures of authority. Who has the right to interpret history? How are knowledge and cultural memory produced and transmitted— and who benefits from these frameworks? As art, science and public institutions increasingly intersect, new tensions and responsibilities emerge.
This panel brings together artists and institutional voices to explore how contemporary cultural practice can question representation, rethink collaboration, and reshape histories. From revisiting collections and archives to rethinking collaboration and authorship, the discussion asks: how can we shift from inherited hierarchies toward shared forms of storytelling — and what responsibilities come with the power to narrate?
Speakers
In conversation with Annemieke Keurentjes, Dr. Evelyn Wan, Repti Suprantinah and Venuri Perera. Gemodereerd door Valentina Riccardi.
Annemieke Keurentjes
Annemieke Keurentjes has worked in various roles and positions in the international performing arts field before she started working as Secretary for Internationalization at the Fonds Podiumkunsten/Performing Arts Fund NL in The Hague. In this position she is focusing on making international connections for the Dutch scene, facilitating international collaborations and supporting artistic development in an international context. Former positions include: programming director Holland Festival, staff member International Relations at Theater Instituut Nederland, executive director ICC Groningen, pr-manager Springdance.
Dr. Evelyn Wan
Dr. Evelyn Wan is an award-winning artist-scholar and dramaturg. She is Assistant Professor in Media, Arts, and Society at Utrecht University, and specialises in media and performance studies. Her research centres on the intersections between body, technology, and spirituality from feminist and decolonial perspectives. As a dramaturg, she is active between Hong Kong and the Netherlands, and works on dance-based projects, art tech, and community arts. She is a founding member of the Hong Kong-based performance collective If Time’s Limited, and a member of the Rotterdam-based Holistic Technology Salon at V2_Lab for the Unstable Media. Dr Wan is the initiator and co-convenor of the Inter-Asia Performance Studies working group and exchange platform at Performance Studies international (PSi). She currently serves on the Executive Board of PSi, and on the Supervisory Board of TETEM, a maker lab and arts and technology centre in Enschede (NL).
Repti Suprantinah
Repti Suprantinah works across heritage, community-driven storytelling and cultural systems. With over twenty years of experience in the cultural and heritage sector, she has closely witnessed how diaspora narratives are positioned and often marginalised within exhibitions and public programming.
Through her organisation d’Narritage — Narratives and Heritage of Diaspora Communities — Repti works with artists and organisations to develop and present their stories independently. She supports them in strengthening their plans, accessing funding and building sustainable structures. In parallel, she collaborates with museums and cultural institutions that are willing to critically rethink their internal systems: from staffing and knowledge production to collecting and storytelling practices.
Her work is informed by experience across museums, festivals, academic research and funding bodies, including the Mondriaan Fund and Dutch Research Council (NWO), as well as long-standing collaborations with artists and organisations in the Netherlands, Indonesia, the Caribbean and Surinam.
Venuri Perera
Venuri Perera is a choreographer, collaborator, performance artist, curator, and educator based between Amsterdam and Colombo. Exploring the power dynamics of visibility, anonymity and opacity, she attempts to disorient how we perceive the “other.” She subverts frameworks of existing rituals to create alternate dramaturgies. Perera’s solo and collaborative works deal with violent nationalism, colonial heritage, patriarchy, immigration and class and have been invited to festivals/venues across Europe, Asia and Africa since 2010. Her recent collaboration with Eisa Jocson (PH) ‘Magic Maids’ is currently touring internationally.
She was a member of the Chitrasena Dance Company for 15 years, a visiting lecturer in the University of Visual and Performing Arts and a member of the Dance Panel of the Arts Council in Sri Lanka (‘18, ‘25). Perera conceived and curated the programs of the Colombo Dance Platform (2016-20, Goethe-Institut Colombo), and is committed to creating support networks for the independent dance scene in Sri Lanka.
Moderator: Valentina Riccardi
Valentina Riccardi is the Director of ASEF Culture Department. With over 20 years’ experience in the arts and cultural sector in Asian and European contexts, she leads the team in the overall strategy of its programmes. She has extensive experience developing projects and partnerships in the field of cultural diplomacy and international cultural relations. Valentina is also the general editor of ASEF’s digital platform, culture360.ASEF.org, offering up-to-date information and insights on arts, culture and heritage from 51 countries in Asia and Europe.
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Credits
This performance is a part of AECFest, a multidisciplinary public arts festival that alternates annually between Asia and Europe. In 2026, it will be presented as a festival-in-a-festival within SPRING, taking place from May 14 to 23. This edition marks the third consecutive year that AECFest is hosted within a major international festival platform, following editions in Italy (2024) and China (2025).
The Asia-Europe Cultural Festival (AECFest) is organized by Asia Europe Foundation with the financial support of the People’s Republic of China and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Denmark.