Sven Åge Birkeland is the artistic director of BIT Teatergarasjen, the dance biannual Oktoberdans and the theatre biannual Meteor. Birkeland also curates art programs for festivals (Malta Festival, Poznan 2010), theatres (The Norwegian National Theatre, Oslo 2010-2011), museums (Norwegian National Museum of Art, Oslo 2005) and galleries in Norway and abroad. Birkeland is engaged in art politics on a local and national level and is functioning as an artistic and strategic advisor for several companies and institutions. He has been on stage with (among others) Baktruppen and PME/Jacob Wren and occasionally writes articles someone is stupid enough to publish. Before working within the art field he did studies at the University of Stavanger (culture, film and sociology) and the University of Bergen (theatre science).He lives and works from his base in Bergen, Norway.