Tim Brinkman - Arts leader and cultural strategist.
- Mark Walmsley FRSA AGSM
- 6 days ago
- 4 min read
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Meet Tim Brinkman.
In this interview, Mark invited Tim Brinkman to create his own fantasy cultural year from the answers to some easy questions where there are no wrong answers. Enjoy his journey below.
Tim Brinkman is a globally recognised arts leader, producer, and cultural strategist whose four decades at the forefront of the performing arts have shaped major institutions across the UK, USA, Australia, and India.
His career is defined by a rare combination of artistic vision, operational excellence, and a collaborative, joyful approach to cultural leadership that has earned him an international reputation for transforming organisations and elevating creative ecosystems.
Most recently, Tim completed a five-year tenure with Reliance Industries Limited, where he played a pivotal role in the development, operation, and artistic direction of the Nita Mukesh Ambani Cultural Centre (NMACC) in Mumbai.
As Head of the Cultural Centre, he oversaw programming, performance, staffing, finances, and the strategic expansion of one of India’s most significant new cultural landmarks. His leadership helped establish NMACC as a global-standard hub for performing arts and cross-cultural innovation, welcoming audiences, artists, and creative partners from around the world.
Tim’s career spans more than 40 years of senior leadership in theatres, multi-arts venues, festivals, and cultural institutions. From launching new venues and steering major capital projects to producing ambitious international programmes, he has worked with an extraordinary network of artists and companies across theatre, dance, music, opera, and multidisciplinary performance. His curatorial approach is rooted in curiosity, integrity, and a deep commitment to the audience experience — ensuring that every project he touches is both artistically rigorous and publicly meaningful.
As a consultant, Tim now brings his expertise to organisations seeking strategic clarity and creative renewal. His work includes interim management, artistic programming, business planning, leadership and team development, and project delivery.
Whether supporting boards through transition, coaching leadership teams, or shaping major artistic seasons, he is valued for his calm perspective, practical intelligence, and ability to unite people around shared purpose.
Across all his roles, Tim remains driven by a clear mission: to create and enable cultural experiences that connect, inspire, and uplift audiences. He believes deeply in the social power of the arts and in the potential of well-run cultural organisations to transform communities. Colleagues consistently describe him as collaborative, thoughtful, and generous — a leader who listens first, builds trust, and champions the creative spirit in others.
With a career that spans continents, disciplines, and eras of artistic change, Tim Brinkman stands as one of the performing arts sector’s most seasoned and respected cultural leaders. His work continues to influence institutions worldwide, and his consulting practice brings that wealth of experience to organisations seeking creative evolution, resilient structures, and programming that genuinely moves people.
Tim's Fantasy Cultural Year ... with a magic wand and time machine to hand.
In his Fantasy Cultural Year interview, Tim Brinkman takes full advantage of the time machine, first-class travel, and artistic freedom offered in the format.
He begins by choosing to step — quite literally — into the paintings of Joan Miró, using immersive virtual-reality glasses to wander through the landscapes, figures, and evolving abstraction of the Spanish master’s early-to-mid 20th-century works. He describes Miró’s journey from figurative, naturalistic craft to bold, playful abstraction, and imagines walking through those environments as they unfold in three dimensions. His selection reflects his long-held fascination with creative evolution and the discipline behind seemingly whimsical art.
From there, Tim is transported back to London, where the journey continues into theatre.
As the week unfolds, Tim’s itinerary blends personal passions, artistic milestones, and cultural touchstones — from major theatrical experiences to the option of Broadway’s grand scale.
Each choice reveals his curiosity, his wide-ranging taste, and his deep appreciation for the artist’s process. Throughout, he emphasises connection, creativity, and the joy found in revisiting moments that shaped his life in the performing arts.
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Mark Walmsley FRSA FCIM AGSM
Chief Culture Vulture
Arts & Culture Network
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Chief Culture Vulture
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