Laurent Bigarella

Laurent Bigarella has been working within the Lyon-based association Arty Farty since 2017 where he holds the position of director of the Ideas Department. Within the department, he is the curator of the debate forums of European Lab (in Lyon, Paris, Brussels, and various European cities) and co-coordinates the Reset! network, supported by Creative Europe, which brings together independent cultural and media organizations across Europe. He has also been involved in other European cooperation projects within Arty Farty, such as We are Europe and Sphera.

Catherine Magnant

Catherine Magnant is Deputy to the Director and Head of the cultural policies department in the European Commission Directorate General for Education and Culture. She was previously Head of the Commission Task Force of the European Year of Cultural Heritage 2018, which took place in 37 countries.

She started her career in Moscow, where she set up the Press and Information section of the European Commission Delegation. Back in Brussels, she was part of the team preparing the EU enlargement to Central and Eastern Europe. She then joined the EU’s external relations service where she worked to promote human rights in third countries. She later turned to internal EU policies and was Deputy Head of Unit for cultural policy and innovation in the Directorate General for Education and Culture, working on the creative economy.

Catherine is an alumnus of the Ecole Normale Supérieure de Saint-Cloud, Paris. She also graduated in international relations and Russian language from the Sorbonne University.

Paul Rechter

Paul Rechter is an advisor to the Director-General of Artistic Creation at the French Ministry of Culture, where he is in charge of coordinating the European and international activities of the DGCA. He contributes to the implementation of public policies in favor of creation, particularly in their international dimension, as well as to the development of cooperation between artists, institutions, and professional networks. He also supports French participation in European and international cultural initiatives.

After receiving his degree in law, Rechter began his career within public and legal institutions before joining the DGCA in 2021. He worked at the Paris Bar Association as a director, then joined the Ministry of Culture where he now works alongside the General Director of Artistic Creation, Christopher Miles. He contributes, in this context, to supporting mechanisms for artists, international mobility and cultural solidarity actions, particularly in contexts of international crises.

Sophie Valais

Sophie Valais is the Deputy Head of the Department for Legal Information at the European Audiovisual Observatory. She oversees EU-funded projects, contributes to the Observatory’s legal publications, and helps organise its events and conferences. Since joining in 2014, she has drawn on her broad experience across both public and private institutions in the European audiovisual sector. A law graduate from the University of Paris-Saclay, she specialises in media law, copyright, and information technology. Her previous roles include serving as a Legal and Policy Adviser at an international law firm in Brussels, at the French National Cinema Centre (CNC), and with collective management organisations across Europe. She has also acted as a Copyright Expert in EU-funded projects.

Julie Trébault 

Julie Trébault is the Founder and Executive Director of Artists at Risk Connection (ARC), a global organization dedicated to safeguarding artistic freedom and supporting artists and cultural workers under threat. Under her leadership, ARC provides critical resources and support to more than 2,000 artists facing persecution from state and non-state actors, empowering them to overcome challenges to their creative expression. Prior to founding ARC, she served as director of public programs at the Museum of the City of New York and the Center for Architecture.