Annette Mees - Artistic Director, Audience Labs

Annette Mees is an award-winning theatre director and artistic director known for her innovative, experiential work that allows audiences to immerse themselves in new possibilities and big ideas.

She is the Artistic Director of Audience Labs; a hub for imagination exploring new forms of theatre and technology to dream up cultural futures. We bring together interdisciplinary teams to create artistic work that defies definitions, undertake interdisciplinary R&D and spark new thinking. We believe in the power of imagination, stories and culture to help us find a language for transformative futures in which communities across the globe and the planet itself can be healthy, happy and thrive.

Audience Labs started at the Royal Opera House but now works for and with different organisations at the intersection of culture, innovation and social change. Most recently it has been housed at King’s College London where we worked with AHRC to explore the underlying questions emerging around these new forms. We are hosting conversations between leaders from culture, innovation, technology, gaming, social innovation and beyond to explore pathways towards an innovative, ethical and impactful future of the UK’s creative industries.

Next to that Annette Mees works as an innovation strategist, artistic advisor and dramaturg for a range of organisations and projects at the intersection of performance and innovation. Currently she is the chair of FutureEverything, a co-host of global conversation on The Future of Culture supported by Arup and Therme, an artist mentor for CPH:DOX, directing David Finnigan’s “You're Safe Till 2024” and developing a strategic R&D project on the future of hybrid cultural venues with Substrakt.

Previously she was a Creative Fellow for WIRED and The Space, Guest-Artistic Director of the Danish Inspiration Lab. She started her career as one of the co-Artistic Directors of Coney - an internationally renowned immersive theatre company. She was awarded the “Theatre Encouragement Award” by the Writers Guild of Great Britain for her collaborative approach to working with writers.