Ep 44: Joe Sidek - Festival Director, George Town Festival

Best Known as director of the George Town Festival, Joe Sidek has established himself as one of Malaysia’s strong advocates for the arts. Prior to becoming a festival director, Joe Sidek played major roles in various forms of art expression – from event management, art curator-ship, restaurant ownership and even costume design. He also still runs his family–owned textile chemical factory, Chemdyes Sdn Bhd. Since 2010 when he began GTF, in 2018, Joe also directed the 3-year-old Rainforest Fringe Festival in Kuching, having founded the festival in 2017. He also helmed the Butterworth Fringe Festival for 3 years (2015–2017) and earlier in 2014, he brought Tropfest, the world’s largest short film festival to Southeast Asia and showcased the inaugural Tropfest South East Asia in Penang. He is 2020-2022 chairman of Federation of Asian Cultural Promotion, an industry expert on the industry panel of Malaysian federal agency for the arts and culture, Cultural Economy Development Agency (CENDANA), and chairman of Penang Arts Council. In this STIMY episode, Joe shares his fascinating life story: from wanting to do art in Central Saint Martins to returning to Malaysia, recovering from his first “failed’ festival to eventually be one of Malaysia’s biggest, and most well-known advocate for the arts & culture! Highlights: 1:52: Joe has noble blood! 3:18: Moving to Penang 3:42: Why Joe thinks Penangites are “arrogant, confident, and proud of who they are” 4:36: Wanting to do art in London & John Galliano 5:45: Not wanting to return home 6:50: His relationship with his dad 10:37: Taking over the family business 11:35: Why Joe’s first festival in 2001 failed 14:33: Becoming the festival director of the George Town Festival 17:02: Getting help from the Penang Chief Minister 19:15: Why Joe brings in not just local, but also international artists 21:48: How Ernest Zacharevic got involved in the George Town Festival (resulting in the subsequent street art boom!) 24:01: Gentrification & over-commercialisation 24:54: GTF’s student and community tickets project 31:49: Finding historical, old & meaningful places to stage GTF 32:41: The biggest challenges of a festival director 35:50: Artists that have adapted well to COVID/virtual world 37:50: How artists can build their personal brand & stand out 42:21: How to become a festival director 49:45: Where artists can find their community 📍Show notes: www.sothisismywhy.com/44 💌 Sign up for the weekly STIMY newsletter: https://sothisismywhy.ck.page/ebf231f605