Many of our Australian festivals today can be ridden with bureaucracy, where bold ideas have to battle it out with funding incentives, venue restraints or personal interests.
But what if being disruptive is embedded in the very DNA of a festival?
With a clear agenda to challenge and provoke, the Festival of Dangerous Ideas (FODI) is set out to be exactly that. This year it presents a roster of “hard topics”, ranging from political censorship during a global conflict to the moral responsibility to not have children.
Speakers include leading international thinkers such as social commentator and author of Bad Feminist, Roxane Gay (also at Melbourne’s Now or Never), US psychologist Jean Twenge, economist John N Friedman, Canadian gynecologist and author Jen Gunter, South African philosopher David Benatar and more.
Gay will be joining Megan Phelps-Roper, Andy Mills and David Baddiel on a panel discussion about ‘Uncancelled Culture’, tackling the possibility of redemption and second chances in an age where people are quick to jump to conclusions and the internet can tear perceived wrong-doers apart.
Amid calls to boycott festivals and the cancellation of artists, Louise Adler will appear to reiterate that ‘Art is Always Political’ and unpack how the culture wars are affecting our pages and stages.
In a press release, FODI 2024 Festival Director, Danielle Harvey says, ‘At a time when we are surrounded by bad ideas and bad faith, where information is cheap and shallow, we need a place people can come and be curious together and be inspired. A space safe from hype. Safe to listen and ask questions. A space with real experts from all disciplines. Festival of Dangerous Ideas is here to be that space.’
Harvey continues, ‘The line-up won’t please everybody (it never does!) and nor does it aim to. But it will be good for everyone. What FODI offers is a precious moment in real time with 87 thought leaders and creatives who will bring you next-level discussion – likely some disagreement, and definitely some hope. Learning more about the world we are making and unmaking is a thrill, and I can’t wait for you to discover new ideas and thinkers over one massive weekend of danger.’
What FODI offers is a breadth of explorations relevant to the everyday, regardless of your engagement with politics, arts or activism. For example, Twenge was one of the first voices to sound the alarm around smartphones and social media apps, especially the negative impacts on young people. Her findings show how handheld devices are doubling depression rates in American teens.
Meanwhile, Gunter is on a mission to dismantle myths and misogyny surrounding women’s health, what the Festival calls ‘a fearless crusader against “vaginal steamers” and “jade egg enthusiasts”’.
Emeritus professor turned sustainability leader Jem Bendell believes in the irreversible collapse of civilisation – in fact, he argues that it has already begun. However, Bendell’s task is to help humanity through this transition and to embrace this realisation with grace.
In the face of all these pessimism and suffering, Benatar, author of Better Never to Have Been: The Harm of Coming into Existence, drives home the moral responsibility to not have children in a world where they are guaranteed to suffer.
International appearances will be joined by Australian changemakers to discuss their big ideas in a local context. Here, nothing is off the table – the price of democracy, transplanted wombs, meditation on genocide, identity politics in journalism and more.
FODI 2024 will also extend off the stage across Carriageworks, with installations, performances and immersive experienced. Artists involved include Numen/For Use, re:group, Vicki Van Hout and Marian Abboud.
The State Library of NSW will act as a satellite venue with a special tour, Stacks of Danger. Led by curators Sarah Morley and Margot Riley, visitors will gain a sneak peek inside some of the most controversial and unexpected works hidden behind the doors of this public institution.
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FODI is presented by The Ethics Centre, and designed for ‘a time in which the space allowed for principled disagreement would be subject to unrelenting pressure’, says Executive Director, Simon Longstaff.
He continues, ‘For over 15 years we have pushed back – creating a forum where it is safe to engage with ideas that challenge and ultimately redefine what counts as “conventional wisdom”. This incredible program continues in that tradition – offering a range of topics and speakers whom we are confident will produce at least as much light as heat during the course of the Festival.’
The Festival of Dangerous Ideas runs from 24-25 August at Carriageworks, Sydney, with select sessions available to stream; find out more.
