Tarek Iskander

DOWNTIME - interviews with dance artists & arts leaders, talking about dance & the arts

Tarek Iskander is the Artistic Director of Battersea Arts Centre, in London. Born in Sunderland to parents born in Egypt, Tarek moved to the Middle East when he was five, and returned to the UK at 17, escaping from the Gulf War in Kuwait. He studied engineering before beginning a management career in the NHS that lasted more than a decade.

In the following chapters of his journey he was the Interim Director for Theatre at Arts Council England, one of the founders and Associate Artistic Director of the Yard Theatre in Hackney and also Resident Director at the National Theatre Studio. Since 2018 Tarek has been the Artistic Director and CEO of Battersea Arts Centre - a venue which is ‘a home for radical artistic ideas’ stemming from ‘a belief in the power of performance and collective imagination to spark positive change.’

Tarek spoke to Lou about his ideas for change with regard to the golden triangle of funders, venues and artists/freelancers, what BAC is doing to support artists in terms of exploration and risk, and what it was like to get married there, earlier this year.