Live Art Development Agency (LADA) London, United Kingdom

Established in 1999, the Live Art Development Agency (LADA) is the world’s leading organisation for Live Art, producing specialized projects, opportunities, resources and publications for those who make, watch, research, study, teach, produce, present, write about and archive Live Art, and creating conditions in which diversity, innovation and risk in contemporary culture can thrive.

LADA is a ‘Centre for Live Art’: a knowledge centre, a production centre for programmes and publications, a research centre setting artists and ideas in motion, and an online centre for digital experimentation, representation and dissemination.

LADA works strategically, in partnership and in consultation with artists and organisations across the cultural sector to develop new artistic frameworks, legitimize unclassifiable artforms, and give agency to underrepresented artists.

“LADA is an uncompromising, astonishing and vital resource in the field of Live Art in the UK and beyond.” — Tim Etchells, LADA Patron

LADA is responsible for funding and co-ordinating Live Art UK, a network for bringing together key promoters and facilitators to support and develop the Live Art infrastructure for the benefit of artists and audiences.

LADA operates the Study Room, a free, open access research facility used by artists, students, curators, academics and other arts professionals. The Study Room is in Hackney Wick, London, and houses a comprehensive collection of publications ranging from theoretical texts to DVDs, videos, CDs and digital files of performance documents and documentation. There is an online catalogue of over 5,000 items accessible in LADA’s Study Room. This resource facility was described by The Independent as one of the UK’s 50 best museums and galleries.

“15 Minutes With…” – There will be a series of “15 Minutes With…” podcast series. These podcasts will be launched throughout 2014 to celebrate the 15th Anniversary of the Live Art Development Agency, and consist of short dialogues with some of the exceptional artists and thinkers that LADA has had the pleasure of working with over the last 15 years.

FRESH AiR – An initiative from Queen Mary, University of London, produced in collaboration with the Live Art Development Agency, offering recent graduates and emergent artists support, advice and professional development, features the FRESH AiR PLATFORM (an open submissions performance platform, mentoring, and critical feedback for programmed artists) and FRESH TIPS (a day of information and advice from experienced artists).

Restock, Rethink, Reflect – An ongoing series of initiatives for, and about, artists who are engaging with issues of identity politics and cultural diversity in innovative and radical ways. Each year’s project is under a different theme: race (2006–08), disability (2009–12), and feminism (2013-2014).

Life Lecture – An online resource which structures and directs an audience to deliver a lecture to themselves about themselves. Life Lecture has been created by Joshua Sofaer, published and distributed by the Live Art Development Agency and the dramaturg and editor in chief is Sibylle Peters in cooperation with the Interactive-Science-Program/ ZMI Geissen. Webdesign and authoring by Platform3.

LADA produces projects to help develop the visibility of, and opportunities for, artists making live work from diverse backgrounds.

In 2003 LADA produced the Live Culture event at Tate Modern which included performances from Franko B, Forced Entertainment and a lecture by Marina Abramović.

LADA has published a number of titles relating to Live Art, most notably co-publishing Out of Now: The Lifeworks of Tehching Hsieh edited by Adrian Heathfield with the MIT Press, and Perform Repeat Record edited by Adrian Heathfield and Amelia Jones with Intellect.