Canberra's controversial Fringe Festival has a new lead producer after local artist and theatre director Chenoeh Miller was chosen for the role in 2015.
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Miller, who has previously been involved in Lifeline Canberra's Hipsley Lane retail project and served as artistic director of the MusicACT Awards, was named by Arts Minister Joy Burch to replace former artistic director Jorian Gardner on Monday.
This year's fringe, timed to coincide with the National Multicultural Festival, and Gardner's tenure were overshadowed by the fall out from a February 7 performance featuring a female burlesque dancer dressed as Adolf Hitler, dancing to the song Gangnam Style.
It is understood bureaucrats decided to approach members of Canberra's artistic community to take on the producer role for 2015 after only two expressions of interest were received in recent weeks.
Promising a showcase of Canberra's cultural diversity, Miller said she wouldn't shy away from controversial performances next year.
"I think a fringe by its very nature is controversial. It should be alternative and edgy and present works in ways hopefully audiences haven't seen before so I think a bit of controversy is OK," she said.
"I hope to present in a way that is authentic to me and in a way that is appealing for the community."
Miller declined to be drawn on the 2014 event, but said previous organisers had set a high standard for supporting Canberra performers.
"My focus is to move forward and I am really not interested in harping on about the past.
"I will seek to put a real multicultural focus on the fringe so while we have the Multicultural Festival, which is fantastic unto itself, I look forward to showcasing the cultural diversity we have here in Canberra," she said.
Embracing the short preparation time before the fringe gets underway on February 13, Miller said she would welcome participation from performers, volunteers and other members of the community.
"I think the point of difference for the Canberra Fringe is that it needs to be multicultural."
Ms Burch said the appointment would see a "thought provoking event" after an independent panel appointed Ms Miller to oversee the $20,000 contract, which is matched with $20,000 in in-kind support for security and other services.
The three-day fringe runs alongside the National Multicultural Festival in the city.
"[Miller's] extensive experience in alternative arts activities, and her vision of a culturally diverse program, will give the fringe a real point of difference among the other experimental arts events that we have in Canberra," Ms Burch said in a statement.
"The National Multicultural Festival celebrates our rich cultural diversity with a focus on community and families while, by its nature, the fringe festival will present material that is alternative, edgy and experimental."
Gardner said he was "bitterly disappointed" by the decision but he wished Miller and others involved in the event every success.
"To me it seems that we need to have a look at the way that the festival will be funded and managed in the future but I wish the new producers the very best of artistic luck and hope they don't attempt any Nazi burlesque in Civic Square," he said.
In June, the former 2CC and Win News employee was awarded a formal right of reply in the ACT Legislative Assembly after he said he was embarrassed and defamed by Opposition politicians during debate about his appointment.
