Mara van Nes (1993) is a theater maker, program maker and moderator. She specializes in social-artistic work and conversation as a work of art. In her practice she often works with a combination of art professionals and amateurs, or cross-disciplinary with specialists from the social domain.

 The encounter, the experience and the dialogue are central to her work. Rituals play an important role in this because, for her, shaping a gathering has a direct influence on its substantive qualities. This means that attention is needed not only for What is being said, but also for How we are relating to each other.

Her performances are often participative and combine philosophical forms of conversation with visual experiences. As a program maker she mainly worked in the cultural sector, but through her social-artistic practice she is also increasingly broaching new connections and topics outside of this. She has often collaborated with Theater DEGASTEN, Oerol Festival, Building Conversation, Podium Mozaiek, Tolhuistuin and Theater Frascati.

Mara works freelance as a program maker, teacher and moderator and is artistic director of 'ABOVE AS BELOW', a platform creating and producing social artistic projects, together with her long-time collaborator Basak Layic.