| Tony Lankester Bio |
 Tony LankesterCEO Tony started his career in journalism, working for national South African radio station SAfm in a range of roles, including presenting that station’s popular Saturday breakfast show, SAfm Weekend for seven years. After a brief stint in corporate communications for insurance giant, Old Mutual, he became their Sponsorship Manager before being invited to be CEO of South Africa’s National Arts Festival in 2007, one of the world’s largest annual arts events with a combined Fringe and curated programme. In his 12-year tenure he helped the Festival broaden its funding base, significantly increase its audience, and deepen its role in the community of the small town of Makhanda (formerly Grahamstown) from which it operated. He initiated and oversaw the launch of several new festivals – including the Cape Town Fringe and the Creative Digital Arts Festival – and increased the global footprint of the Festival by touring multiple productions to Fringe Festivals in Australia, the UK, the USA and across Europe. He was also founding Chair of the World Fringe Alliance, an informal grouping of ten Fringe Festivals which opened touring pathways for artists across the globe. He has worked on creating festivals in the UAE, and project managed the South African Pavilion at the Venice Biennale, marking the country’s return to the event in 2013. In 2019, when he stepped down from the Festival, he was invited to join the Board as a Trustee, a position he still holds today. He relocated to London to work at the iconic Riverside Studios in Hammersmith as it re-opened after a five-year redevelopment, becoming joint-CEO and Executive Director in 2020. In his time at Riverside he has helped the charity navigate the Covid pandemic, oversaw a restructuring of the company’s debt through administration and, ultimately, a sale of the Studios to a newly established Trust which, today, continues to present a mix of theatre, film, festivals and comedy, and is a significant cultural hub in West London. He has been a podcast presenter, delivered a TedX talk on the power of the arts, and guest lectured on branding and arts marketing at Rhodes University’s Journalism School, where he was recently named as one of that institution’s Top 50 Alumni. |
