Mark Ball

I am Mark Ball, the Artistic Director of the Southbank Centre in London.

Over the past decade, I have worked with the Goethe-Institut to bring German artists into festivals in the UK, particularly the London International Festival of Theatre, where I was the former Artistic Director.

My favourite memory of working with the Goethe-Institut London was working together to support the presentation of Rimini Protokol’s 100% London, a brilliantly conceived theatre project that enabled 100 Londoners who represented the capital’s demographics to share their stories and their connections with London. It spoke profoundly to the theatre’s democratic roots.

My favourite aspect of British-German cultural exchange is the sharing of forms and approaches - whilst we’re rooted in many of the same traditions our approaches to supporting artists, making work and connecting to communities are very different and present real opportunities to inform each other's practice.