Helen Varley Jamieson is a writer, theatre practitioner and digital artist from New Zealand, based in Germany. She holds a Master of Arts (Research) investigating cyberformance - live performance on the internet – which she has practiced since 1999. She coined the term cyberformance in 2000.
In 2003 she co-founded UpStage, a web-based platform for cyberformance, and since then has co-curated many international online festivals and events in UpStage and other platforms. She initiated the Creative Europe funded project "Mobilise/Demobilise" (2020-24) which enabled a complete rebuilt of the UpStage software in 2021, and it continues to provide a unique artist-led online venue for live performance as it begins its third decade.
In her creative work Helen initiates and participates in collaborative explorations of the use of digital and online tools to address current environmental, political and social issues. Her projects include "Mobilise/Demobilise" (2020-2024), "We have a situation!" (2013-), "Unaussprechbarlich" (2015-18), "Tales from the Towpath" (2014) and "make-shift" (2010-12).
Helen is active internationally in open source, feminist, theatre and digital art networks. As a member of the Magdalena Project, an international network of feminist theatre makers and performance artists, Helen has presented her work at festivals around the world and co-organised Magdalena festivals and events in New Zealand, Germany and online.