WORD Christchurch and Christchurch Arts Festival team up for Shifting Points of View in September
WORD Christchurch, in association with Christchurch Arts Festival, is pleased to announce Shifting Points of View, a series of events designed to provoke and enlighten, and maybe even change your perspective on the world.
Featuring Midnight Oil frontman Peter Garrett, provocateur and documentary-maker John Safran, Australian feminist Clementine Ford, British journalist Reni Eddo-Lodge, author Witi Ihimaera, surgeon David Galler, poet Glenn Colquhoun, Ng?i Tahu storyteller Joseph Hullen and more, Shifting Points of View takes place throughout September 2017 as part of the Christchurch Arts Festival.
In Depends What You Mean by Extremist, John Safran, Australian satirist and maker of such provocative and hilarious documentary series as John Safran vs God, embeds himself in the world of Australia’s diverse community of white nationalists, ISIS supporters, anarchists and more. He appears in conversation with Te Radar on 10 September.
Ahead of Midnight Oil’s Christchurch concert, the band’s charismatic frontman Peter Garrett appears in conversation on 10 September with Finlay Macdonald. Garrett discusses his creative and political life, as outlined in his recent memoir Big Blue Sky –– from his time fronting the iconic Australian band to his roles as environmental activist and as minister in the Labor government.
Australia’s online sensation, fearless feminist heroine and scourge of trolls and misogynists everywhere, Clementine Ford will outline her essential manifesto for feminists new, old and soon-to-be, and expose just how unequal the world continues to be for women. Ford appears in Fight Like a Girl on 2 September.
Award-winning British journalist, feminist, and author Reni Eddo-Lodge will discuss her book Why I’m No Longer Talking to White People About Race with playwright Victor Rodger on 5 September. Man Booker winner Marlon James called it ‘the kind of book that demands a future where we’ll no longer need such a book.’
In Fail Safe/Fail Better on 1 September, Clementine Ford, Witi Ihimaera, Glenn Colquhoun, Lianne Dalziel, Hana O’Regan and Victor Rodger share tales of failure and its role in their lives and careers, whether it’s a building block to creative success, a sorry rock-bottom tale, or a philosophical pondering on the nature of failure itself.
Joseph Hullen (Ng?i T??huriri, Ng?i Tahu) will lead two 60-minute walking tours on 2 and 16 September, through Tuhaitara Coastal Park at Woodend Beach and uncover the rich history and significance of Tutae Patu Lagoon, still of great significance to Ng?i T??huriri and Ng?i Tahu.
Long-time intensive care specialist and author Dr David Galler will tell stories of life and death and discuss the Things That Matter with poet and fellow medicine-man, Glenn Colquhoun on 2 September.
British actor Rebecca Vaughn, fresh from her stage performance of Jane Eyre: An Autobiography, will be joined by Karen Healey, Moata Tamaira and Rachael King at the Arts Centre Great Hall on 6 September to explore the enduring power of nineteenth-century Gothic heroines in Madwomen in the Attic.
‘We are thrilled to collaborate once again with Christchurch Arts Festival to bring a thought-provoking programme of ideas to the city,’ says WORD Christchurch programme director Rachael King. ‘I am grateful to festival director Craig Cooper for this chance to work together to deliver something special to our shared audience.’
Tickets for all events go on sale 21 June through Ticketek. A Shifting Points of View season pass will also be available.
WORD Christchurch thanks Christchurch Arts Festival, Christchurch Art Gallery Te Puna o Waiwhetu, Te R?nanga o Ng?i Tahu, our major funders Christchurch City Council, Creative New Zealand and the Rata Foundation as well as all our sponsors, patrons and supporters.
For more information, or to request an interview, please contact Rachael King,