Barbara Mathers

An arts administrator, performing arts producer and events coordinator. She has completed an Associate and Licentiate Teachers Diploma in Speech and Drama through Trinity College, London (1991) and in 2002 spent time in Canada as part of a Theatre Research Internship Program funded by the South African Department of Arts Culture Science and Technology and the Canada Council. She has completed a series of Arts Management Master Classes run by Michael Kaizer of the Kennedy Centre and a business acumen course at UCT’s Graduate School of Business. After working as Assistant Front Office Manager for the Mount Nelson Hotel and she joined Brett Bailey in 1998 to manage Third World Bunfight, producing most of their productions and tours – locally and internationally as well as running performing arts training projects in the Eastern and Western Cape. At the same time she has produced and managed various events, projects and festivals and worked as a client services liaison for TicketWeb SA. Events include the entertainment programme for Moyo restaurant in Stellenbosch from 2004 to 2007, the Festival of White Light on the Spier Estate in 2009 & 2010 and Talking Heads for Infecting the City Festival 2010. She managed The Spier Arts Festival for 2008 including the Poetry Exchange on the Spier Estate and the Performing Arts and Music Festivals presented in inner city venues of Cape Town.