The Lab was founded in 2012 by co-directors Derek Goldman, award-winning theatrical artist, global performance leader and Professor of Theatre & Performance at the Georgetown University of Washington DC, and the Ambassador Cynthia Schneider, lecturer in Practice of Diplomacy and former US Ambassador to the Netherlands (1998-2001), to investigate and experiment civic imagination and cultural diplomacy in the field of global performance, civic imagination and cultural diplomacy. The Lab is characterized by its pioneering interdisciplinary approaches that integrate the performing arts and international relations. It produces and presents innovative works of high quality and from all over the world about the intersection between politics and performance, from all over the world. The Lab heads the artistic direction of Crosscurrents, a biennial festival of performing arts that highlights innovative artists from around the world who are exploiting the power of performance to humanize global politics. The Crosscurrents festival presents a wide range of works in different stages of development and entertains conversations on critical topics with politicians, artists, scholars, activists and leaders. It also manages a network with some partnerships such as: the Centre for international theatre development, Edinburgh international cultural summit, EUNIC, ITI Unesco, Theatre without borders and La Guarda theatre.
