Posted: Monday 5 March, 2018
2018 AFoI Dedication – Robyn Archer
Image Copyright Heide Smith
From cautious beginnings in 1999, every Adelaide Festival of Ideas since 2001 has been dedicated in honour of a great Australian whose contribution to the world of ideas and public life has been exemplary.
The 2018 Adelaide Festival of Ideas Dedication recognises Robyn Archer AO.
Robyn Archer joins the prestigious list of past AFoI who have included Philip Adams, AO; Lowitja O’Donoghue, AC, CBE, DSG; Paul Davies, AM; Hugh Stretton, AC; and Barbara Hardy, AO.
Robyn Archer AO is a singer, writer, artistic director and public advocate for the arts. Robyn is the former Artistic Director of the National Festival of Australian Theatre (Canberra), the Adelaide and Melbourne Festivals, and Ten Days on the Island (which she created for Tasmania). She has received many awards including The Dame Elisabeth Murdoch Cultural Leadership Award, the International Society of Performing Arts International Citation of Merit and the Premier’s Lifetime Achievement Award (SA).
She is currently Artistic Director of The Light in Winter, created for Federation Square, Melbourne and the City of Gold Coast’s Strategic Advisor, Arts and Culture, which hosts the Commonwealth Games in 2018. She recently completed 5 years as Creative Director of the Centenary of Canberra 2013.
Robyn continues to combine artistic direction with concert performance, strategic advice, mentoring younger artists and artistic directors, speaking and writing about the arts across Australia and the world.
