Fanny Mikey and the Ibero-American Theatre Festival of Bogotá

Carla Menza, Laurent Lapierre

Carla Menza holds a master’s degree in Business Administration, with a specialization in cultural management, from HEC Montréal. She has served as director of the Research Office for Cultural and Socioeconomic Affairs in Bogotá and as a consultant in international cooperation for the Columbian ministries of Planning, Environment and Finance.
Laurent Lapierre holds the Pierre-Péladeau Chair in Leadership and teaches courses on management of arts enterprises and cultural industries at HEC Montréal. His research interests include leadership and the influence of managers’ personalities on their management style and the role of management behaviour in an organization’s success or failure. He has served as editor of the journal Gestion: Revue internationale de gestion and is co-author of the three-volume Imaginaire et leadership.

ABSTRACT 
The Ibero-American Theatre Festival of Bogotá, founded by Fanny Mikey in 1988, has become the most important cultural event in Colombia. A celebration of the diversity and plurality that characterize the performing arts today, it is also one of the largest theatre festivals in the world. A woman of boundless energy, Fanny Mikey has succeeded in striking a difficult balance between her multiple roles as an entrepreneur, manager and creator in the theatre milieu. Under her capable leadership, the National Theatre has evolved from staging works borrowed from the classical repertoire to the creation of contemporary works mirroring the national context. No other individual has contributed more to the development of Colombia’s cultural infrastructure.
KEYWORDS
Leadership, management and arts management
RÉSUMÉ
Créé par Fanny Mikey en 1988, le Festival ibéro-américain de théâtre de Bogotá est devenu l’événement culturel le plus important de Colombie et le reflet de la diversité et de la pluralité des tendances en arts de la scène. Femme d’instinct, débordante d’énergie, Fanny Mikey a réussi à maintenir le difficile équilibre entre ses rôles d’entrepreneure, de gestionnaire et de créatrice. Sous sa direction, le Théâtre national a délaissé le répertoire classique pour un répertoire d’œuvres contemporaines inscrit dans le contexte national. Fanny Mikey a contribué à bâtir l’infrastructure culturelle de la Colombie.
MOTS CLÉS 
Leadership, management et gestion des arts
RESUMEN 
El Festival Iberoamericano de Teatro de Bogotá, creado por Fanny Mikey en 1988, se ha convertido en el evento cultural más trascendente de Colombia y el reflejo de la diversidad y pluralidad de tendencias en las artes escénicas. Fanny Mikey es una mujer defino olfato e inagotable energía que ha sabido mantener el difícil equilibrio necesario entre sus diversos papeles: empresaria, administradora, y creadora. Bajo su dirección, el Teatro Nacional dejó atrás el repertorio clásico para abrazar un repertorio de obras contemporáneas que se inscribe en el contexto nacional. Fanny Mikey ha contribuido a la edificación de la infraestructura cultural de Colombia.
PALABRAS CLAVE 
Liderazgo, administración y gestión de las artes