Sydney Festival is pleased to announce Fiona Winning as its new Head of Programming.

Fiona will join the full-time programming team at the Festival, who are well into planning for the 2013 Festival. The programming department is at the core of the Festival, aiming to produce and present a bold, relevant and inspirational Festival program with strong local foundations and a national, regional and international stature.

New Director Lieven Bertels said, "We are thrilled to welcome Fiona as our new Head of Programming! Fiona is well respected as an independent producer and consultant, and many will know her as the former chief executive of Performance Space, especially in her instrumental role in facilitating the move into Carriageworks."

"We know that Fiona will bring some fantastic skills and experience to the team, and we look forward to her contributions to the Festival program," said Lieven.

Fiona said about the new appointment, "I'm incredibly excited to join the Sydney Festival team and look forward to contributing to their fabulous programs, many of which have inspired me over the years. It's particularly great to be participating in the lead up to Lieven Bertels' first Festival in this city - exploring new ideas and dialogues with artists and audiences."

Fiona Winning is an independent writer and producer working in contemporary arts, across theatre, dance and visual cultures. Recently she curated Convictions + Connections: Australian Theatre Forum 2011. Winning works with Bundanon Trust as Program Consultant and Co-convenor of Siteworks - an ongoing conversation between artists, environmentalists and scholars. She also collaborates on the development of intercultural and interdisciplinary projects by independent practitioners.

From 1999-2008 Fiona was Director of Performance Space, a national contemporary arts hub based in Sydney. During this time she collaborated with artists and communities to conceive and produce events in theatres, galleries and public spaces as well as developing a range of training and residency programs. This included producing and co-curating six Time_Place_Space interdisciplinary arts laboratories (with Teresa Crea, Julianne Pierce and Sarah Miller); collaborating with peers to set up Mobile States - Touring Contemporary Performance Australia; and programming intercultural exchanges with national and international artists and companies.