Joost Fonteyne

Joost Fonteyne started his career  at arts centre Limelight in 1988. Originally, he was responsible for the theatre program of the arts centre, but very soon he moved on to festivals and music in particular. In 1996 he founded the festival for new music Happy New Ears. From 1999 onwards, the festival's program also incorporated sound art, initially with exhibitions such as 'Audioframes' (2002-2004) and as of 2005, the project 'Klinkende Stad' presented an annual selection of internationally acclaimed sound art projects. Happy New Ears ended in 2009. 
In 2010 Joost Fonteyne founded the Flanders Festival Kortrijk, a festival with a prominent place for sound art. It didn't just include concerts but also incorporated an annual sound art exhibition that featured, among others, the first solo exhibtion of Bernhard Leitner. The festival also collected a number of soundwalks under the name 'Listen to This'. In 2017, Fonteyne conceived of 'Wilde Westen', a multi-faceted concert and festivalvenue that encapsulated the 'Klinkende Stad' project from then on. In November of 2019, he became curator of the Klarafestival in Brussels.