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Perth International Arts Festival (PIAF) has paid tribute to outgoing General Manager Julian Donaldson who is stepping down after 10 years in the role.

PIAF Board chairman John Barrington said Mr Donaldson had done an excellent job in managing the festival during the past decade.“The PIAF Board wishes to thank Julian for his professionalism, passion and dedication to the festival and the local arts sector over many years,” Mr Barrington said.

“He can be proud of his many achievements, which included helping bring the Giants to Perth earlier this year – a successful event attended by around 1.6 million people.”

“Mr Donaldson has worked as General Manager with four PIAF Artistic Directors and his time at the helm has seen audiences grow and as well as the festival’s reputation for international excellence and community engagement.”

Mr Barrington said Mr Donaldson was moving on to pursue new opportunities and the PIAF Board and staff wished him well in his future endeavours.

“We will now start the process of recruiting a new general manager to work with new Artistic Director Wendy Martin, who has an exciting, bold and ambitious vision for how to make the Perth International Arts Festival one of the greatest in the southern hemisphere,” he said.

The general manager’s role provides an opportunity for an energetic, innovative and creative leader to further build the reputation and success of the festival.”

The Perth International Arts Festival, founded by The University of Western Australia as the “Festival of Perth” in 1953, is Australia’s longest-running international arts festival and Western Australia’s premier cultural event.

The Festival has a worldwide reputation for excellence in its international program, the presentation of new work and the highest quality artistic experiences for its audience.

For 63 years the Festival has welcomed to Perth some of the world’s greatest artists.

PIAF will launch its 2016 program on Wednesday 4 November.

Media references

David Stacey (UWA Media and Public Relations Manager)      (+61 8) 6488 3229 / (+61 4) 32 637 716