OPA Team
Ronald Bal
Co-founder / Director
Ronald Bal is a Dutch artist and co-founder of the OPA and Performance Art NL. He holds a BA in Fine Arts from ArtEZ (2006-2010), and a minor in political philosophy at the University of Utrecht, followed by a master’s Interior Architecture at The Royal Academy of Art (KABK) and currently, a master’s Education in the Arts at the Piet Zwart Institute in Rotterdam. He contributes to the artistic community and academic debates through art projects and guest lectures across various international platforms. Next to working in the field of art he worked in asylums for the homeless and refugees across the Netherlands, where much of his inspiration to reflect cultural debates comes from.
Email: ronald@o-p.academy
Gamze Öztürk
Co-curator/ Organizer
Gamze Öztürk is a Turkish artist and curator currently based in Rotterdam, the Netherlands. She holds a BA in art management from the Yıldız Technical University in Turkey and is currently doing a master’s at the Dutch Art Institute (DAI) ArtEZ Arnhem, the Netherlands. She worked on performative staging in the acting school under the name of ‘Studio Oyuncuları’, led by Sahika Tekand, from 2017 to 2019. She was part of the OPA program in 2019 in the Hague, and became part of OPA in 2024 as co-curator and organizer.
Email: gamze@o-p.academy
OPA was founded in the Netherlands by artist and educator Ronald Bal and philosopher Dr. Nathanja van den Heuvel. From 2024 Ronald Bal and Gamze Öztürk started to redefine the curatorial and pedagogical qualities of OPA by focusing on accessibility of the platform.
We believe that real communication is the key for growing participation, fellowship, friendship, and love. We do so by creating an open platform for performance where art, science and public can meet.
OPA staff
