Frank Wilson

Director @Event International Co Ltd

Durham, GB

Frank has over 25 years’ experience as a creator, curator and producer of outdoor events and festivals. In 1988 he founded the Stockton International Riverside Festival, one of the UK’s most important annual outdoor arts festivals, standing down as Artistic Director after the 25th edition in 2012 but continuing a close relationship with the event in the new role of Associate Artistic Director.UK projects undertaken by Frank and EI have included Millennium Eve celebrations in Newcastle and Leeds; a multi-media performance for the 2005 Tall Ships Race that attracted an estimated audience of people; a four week project by the Australian company Bambuco to construct a bamboo suspension bridge across the River Tyne; and a summer festival in Trafalgar Square. Since 2012 Frank has devoted an increasing amount of his time to working as a mentor and producer with ambitious UK outdoor arts companies, notably Metro Boulot Dodo (‘Safe House’) and Southpaw Dance Company (‘Rush’ and ‘Carousel’).Since 2004 Frank has worked as the international programmer for the Chaoyang International Spring Carnival in Beijing and has been awarded the title of honorary resident in Chaoyang. Other international projects in Europe and further afield have included, most recently, presenting an exhibition in Sydney’s Chinese New Year Festival and European street performers in the Global Village, Dubai (spring 2015). In 2006 Frank organised the Mapping the Streets International Street Arts Conference, which attracted delegates from five continents and provided a global context for the consideration of the development of performance in public spaces. He has played an active role in developing partnership networks in the UK and Europe, including ISAN, Without Walls, Eunetstar and Meridians; the last two creating opportunities for the transnational commissioning of outdoor arts with funding from the EU. Frank was awarded an MBE in the Queen\'s Birthday Honours List in June 2015.

Leeds University

BA (Hons) English Language and Literature

Leeds Metropolitan University

PGCE English and Drama