Fiona trained with the Motley Theatre Design Course, London.
Fiona develops commissioned projects as a lead artist and curator.
At the heart of this aspect of her practice is an Open Space approach which enables emerging practitioners, students and communities to make design-led performance, exploring creative development through placing work in an international context. This has included four international projects for the Prague Quadrennial of Performance Design & Space (PQ 2011, 2015 and 2019), and Design as Performance at World Stage Design in Cardiff (WSD 2013).
She recently curated Staging Places: UK Design for Performance for the Society of British Theatre Designers, which represented professional UK designers at the Prague Quadrennial in June 2019 before taking up residency at the V&A, London from July 2019 – March 2020. The exhibition then transferred to the National Centre for Craft and Design in Sleaford supported by a full education and professional development programme www.stagingplaces.co.uk
She lectures in Performance Design and facilitates a range of talks and hands-on workshops.
She is fascinated by the narrative intersections across performance design, architecture, place-making, museums, heritage and retail, conversations that have been explored through hosting The Value of Design, a series of Xchange events in collaboration with Footprint Scenery.
Fiona is Chair of Creative Medway Cultural Compact and of the Society of British Theatre Designers. She is UK Performance Design Commissioner for OISTAT (International Association of Scenographers Theatre Architects and Technicians) and Co-Chair of the Space Design Sub-Commission.
Contact: watt_fiona@hotmail.com