The Committee 

Gabriela Mocan is a cultural manager, curator and academic with 10+ years’ experience in cultural diplomacy and arts management. She served as Head of Literature, Architecture and the Arts at the Romanian Cultural Institute in London and currently lectures at the Babes-Bolyai University in Romania. With a PhD in Cultural Studies/Philology and specialist training in Creative Leadership, her research is mainly focused on the fields of identity studies, cultural diplomacy, arts management, translation, and migrant literature.

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Over the years, Gabriela collaborated with various organizations in the UK, Romania, and the USA, holding multiple leadership, editorial, translation, educational, and strategic communications positions. She is a (published) poet whose eyes can never close and a passionate lifelong learner with a knack for truth, goodness, and beauty.

Afina is currently pursuing her undergraduate degree in Finance and Banking at Babeș-Bolyai University in Romania.

Throughout her academic journey, she has actively engaged in various passion projects during her volunteer endeavors, sharpening her communication and representation skills, both locally and internationally. These skills were acquired through active participation in a multitude of seminars, national conferences with international attendance, and workshops conducted during her previous volunteer engagements.

Driven by a profound passion for literature, arts, and culture, she eagerly joined ACMC, excited to help celebrate and spread the joy of creativity, arts, culture and knowledge

Aliona Podnebennaia is currently pursuing her Master's degree in History at Central European University in Vienna.

She has previously worked as a museum educator and created special programs both for kids and adults. This helped her to fall in love with culture and museums because it allows inspiring people and conveying humanistic values.

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Which was a great factor in her decision to become part of ACMC. She also creates a podcast about famous artists and art movements, does Irish dancing, and illustrates children's books.

Graduated in Economics and Finance from the University of Bologna, Irene has always been passionate about arts and culture. She comes from Florence and loves art in every form, from visual to performing arts to interdisciplinary approaches. Because of this, after her graduation she decided to combine her biggest passion with her previous studies and started pursuing the MA in Cultural Economics and Entrepreneurship at the Erasmus University of Rotterdam. In the last year, she had the opportunity to delve into matters of cultural policy and her interest in tackling the issues revolving around the cultural sector, from digitalisation to sustainability and cultural democracy. For this reason, she decided to join the 7th edition of ACMC as an Outreach Officer.

Briar Holt is an arts and culture professional originally from New Zealand and now based in Melbourne, Australia.

She holds a Master of Arts in Art History and Theory and has a particular interest in the intersection of contemporary art practice, politics, and protest in an increasingly globalized and unstable world.

She has held administrative, management, and event roles in non-profit galleries and public institutions in Australia and New Zealand, and is currently at the Museums and Collections Department at the University of Melbourne.

Sandra Väizene is a cultural manager, folk dancer, and art lover from Estonia. Her main job is organizing dance festivals.

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Art, music, photography, and choreography are a big part of her everyday life. She loves to inspire people and live outside of the box.

Keeping culture is a bit like selling. It has to be made attractive so that people want to stay in this cultural space, be a part of it and pass it on, improve it, and keep it, without reducing the price.

Alitza Cardona-Collazo, is a creative professional, exhibiting expertise across diverse domains, including art (painting-sculpture), anthropology, architectural design, and museum studies.

Possessing a combined  Bachelor's degree in Environmental Design (Architecture) from the University of Puerto Rico and a Master's degree in the Arts of Education with a specialization in Museology, she is presently pursuing doctoral research at University College London, focusing on Sustainable Heritage.

Her artistic trajectory and scholarly endeavors center on examining the intricate dynamics between human societies, technology, and spatial environments, with a particular emphasis on the socio-cultural discourses and behaviours that influence our comprehension of heritage and its creative social future.

Yoav Friedman is a Senior Academic Officer at the Democracy Institute at the Central European University, a lecturer and researcher in the fields of international relations, higher education policies, and creative economy, and the vice-president of Pennsylvania's Centre Film Festival.

 
Friedman has established and directed the Research and Innovation Authority of Bezalel Academy of Art and Design in Jerusalem, where he co-founded JLM-IMPACT – an inter-institutional design-driven academic entrepreneurship centre in Jerusalem, chaired the EU-funded Jean-Monnet REACTIK research network on cultural diplomacy, and co-founded The Centre for the Studies of Holocaust Visualization. 

Friedman is an alum of the Hubert H. Humphrey Fulbright program and holds a Ph.D. in international relations.

Virginia Fornillo is a Social Communications Consultant, Artistic Producer, Dance Cultural Manager, and Creative International Agent.

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Since 2005, she has worked in the professional field of cultural management and networking around the performative arts sector, especially dance and its diverse aesthetic approaches.

Between 2016-2021, she has been in charge of the production Coordination of Theatre San Martin´s Contemporary Dance Company, and between 2022 and 2023 she was the Head of Río Negro province Dance Área.

She coordinates the cultural mediation project for youth communities, “Mover Futuros” (Moving Futures), and runs the coordination of the Creation and Archive Laboratory, “La Danza en el territorio”, in the frame of the National University of General Sarmiento´s cultural center in Buenos Aires Province.

In 2024, she is directing her new creative distribution agency, PANGEA, with an international impact in the performative arts field.

Joana Dhiamandi is an Architect, Glass Artist, and lecturer Joana Dhiamandi, Ph.D., integrates her passion for architecture, art, and culture with a commitment to education and community engagement. With extensive experience in interdisciplinary work, she assumes the role of Vice-President of the 7th edition of ACMC, where she will spearhead initiatives for cultural diplomacy and promote dialogue and understanding among diverse communities.

Nikola Veisberga has a degree in Psychology from the University of Latvia. Currently, she lives in Germany, where she works as a news and media editor, with a focus on international relations and security.

However, discovering more about the world of arts and culture has always been her hobby. Especially how they intertwine with international relations and politics.

Proudly, calling ACMC her “passion project,” she has grown from a marketing officer working on the 6th edition of the conference to now becoming the Head of Communications.

Oana Capota is a curator and historian based in Vienna, Austria.

She was the curator of the New Westminster Museum in Canada for twelve years, and worked in various museums and arts organizations in Canada and Austria since 2004.

Prominent exhibitions she has worked on include Our Working Waterfront (2012-2015), You Are What You Eat: Community Food Security (2019), Bottoms Up: The Cultures of Drink in the Royal City (2017-2018), and Hair Apparent: A Barbershop History of New Westminster (2015).

Oana is currently completing her Master’s thesis in History at Central European University.

Camila is a cultural professional and independent art curator from Argentina and Colombia. She has a Bachelor's Degree in Humanities from the Universidad de San Andrés in Buenos Aires and currently, she is finishing her Master's in Arts and Culture Management at the Rome Business School.

During her time in Buenos Aires, Camila immersed herself in the art market, gaining experience at Wosco Art Gallery where she also curated two exhibitions.

Fueled by a fervent passion for diverse art disciplines and a need to create its own spaces, Camila started a collective independent project, Colabart, aimed at promoting international emerging artists in Rome.

Now she enthusiastically steps into the role of Event Officer at ACMC, ready to share her insights with the cultural landscape.

Tamás K. Stenczel leads a research and Fin-Tech software team in London and pursues academic research at the University of Cambridge in machine learning and materials modeling.

During his studies, Tamás was managing student societies and events at various scales.

As a co-founder and active member of the Salon de la Sagesse, he is passionate about the associated cultural activities and the longevity of these initiatives.

Elisabeth Teener is a Cultural manager, Producer, and Dancer from Estonia.

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She has experience in marketing, organizing festivals, and producing several art events.

She is curious and excited about new adventures. Always developing herself and being open to new things and excited to discover ways ACMC will aid in this journey.

Elisabeth’s main interests are contemporary dance and poetry, through which she addresses the important topics of society. Working in the creative field makes her happy, discovering the unknown thrives her!

Karla Elkan is currently completing her Master's degree in 'Arts, Culture, and Society' at Erasmus University Rotterdam.

Having previously obtained a Bachelor's degree in Law in Romania, she developed a keen interest in exploring the intersections between law, arts, and culture and their impact on society.

In all her research projects, she addresses novel themes and embraces “a getting out of her comfort zone” approach by constantly choosing the more challenging ways to complete her tasks. This mantra also reflects her in everyday life, illustrated by the very fact that she embarked on the journey of creating the ACMC conference and experience.

Her recent interests are heritage studies, cultural policy, the impact of culture in society, creative cities, and place-making, where she uses her sociological imagination and critical thinking to tackle issues.

Andreea is a communications and project management professional with a decade-long experience in the arts and culture sector.

Having worked in various settings, from art galleries to theatres, film festivals, and charities, she is committed to supporting impactful initiatives.
Andreea was the Lead Producer of the Arts & Cultural Management Conference in 2021 and helped with the planning of the conference's following edition in an advisory role.

Between 2020 - 2023, she contributed to Creative Lives’ mission to champion community and volunteer-led creative activity across the UK and Ireland. During that time, Andreea also coordinated the promotion of two annual Amateo Award ceremonies in collaboration with cultural managers from Europe.

She is currently a Strategic Projects Communications Officer at Manchester Metropolitan University.
Andreea studied at universities in Romania, France, and England. Following her Bachelor’s degree in Communication & Public Relations, she graduated in Arts & Project Management (MA) at Birmingham City University.