For those of us who are not attending Splendour In The Grass this year all the constant talk about it is getting a little excessive, don’t y’think? “Nay!” cries out the fortunate ticket-holders among you, “Impart all your Splendour-related declarations upon our willing ears!” Okay! But maybe you should consider laying off the Game Of Thrones.
The latest addition is the only place where you can find Perry Farrell, Julian Assange’s mother Christine and Wil Anderson together in one place… It’s The Splendour Forum! The latest announcement to the festival’s growing checklist of extracurricular on-site activities (these are in addition to what happens on the main stages).
This year the Forum features an impressive lineup of speakers for 2011 including the aforementioned trio of pure randomness, as well as 50 musicians, comedians, film-makers, writers, artists, actors, tech geeks, politicians and scientists as they debate today’s hottest issues, voice opinions, inspire and entertain.
SPLENDOUR FORUM PROGRAM
KEYNOTE INTERVIEW & AUDIENCE Q&A: Perry Farrell with Wil Anderson
Jane’s Addiction’s legendary frontman Perry Farrell chats to comedian and Gruen Transfer host Wil Anderson and then takes questions from the audience.
PANEL: “Big Brother v Little Brother: From Government and Big Business to WikiLeaks and Anonymous, Who Really Controls Our Online Secrets?”
Christine Assange headlines a panel exploring internet freedom and her son’s extraordinary role. Are faceless hackers conquering the worId by stealth from their laptops or helping pioneer a global political, social and cultural revolution by exposing corruption? Why has Julian Assange been labeled “the most dangerous man in the world” while human rights organisations shower him with awards? And what does it all mean for us – the internet-dependent citizens of the world – when governments can censor content and our bank accounts and phones can be hacked?
The Chaser’s Julian Morrow moderates a tech-wise panel including Hungry Beast tech geeks Marc Fennell and Nick Hayden; IT research fellow Dr Suelette Dreyfus, who co-wrote Underground: Tales of Hacking, Madness and Obsession on the Electronic Frontier with Julian Assange in 1997 about his early days in Melbourne’s hacking scene; internet security analyst and podcaster Patrick Gray; Julian Assange’s Australian lawyer Grace Morgan; and his campaigning mother Christine as they examine the various forces wrestling for control of our online lives.
PANEL: “Climate Change: Where Are This Generation’s Protest Songs?”
Bob Dylan became the voice of social unrest during the US civil rights and anti-war movements of the ’60s. By the ’80s, Bob Geldof was urging us to “Feed the World” and Midnight Oil was pushing for Aboriginal land rights and nuclear disarmament. But where are Gen Y’s protest songs in the face of climate change?
Comedian, broadcaster and environmentalist Greig Pickhaver (aka HG Nelson) probes a panel of musicians, artists, scientists and young politicians about their commitment to tackling the “greatest moral challenge of our time”. Panelists including Hungry Beast presenter Dan Ilic, who wrote the provocative Climate Scientist Rap; Jake Stone from Bluejuice; Australia’s youngest-ever Federal MP Wyatt Roy; SPLENDOUR’s environmental manager Mat Morris; Al Gore protégé Guy Abrahams from ClimArte; young climate scientist Dr Ailie Gallant; environmental economist and 2011 Splendid Arts Lab provocateur Jodi Newcombe; and Australian Youth Climate Coalition representative Ahri Tallon get hot under the collar about global warming – and what on Earth we’re doing about it.
WOMEN OF LETTERS: Splendour Edition II
Writers Marieke Hardy and Michaela McGuire are back to celebrate the beautiful lost art of letter writing with their second special co-ed SPLENDOUR edition of Women of Letters. Artists including Isobel Campbell (ex-Belle & Sebastian), Kav Temperley (Eskimo Joe), Scott Owen (The Living End), Kevin Mitchell (Jebediah, Bob Evans), Hayley Mary (The Jezabels), Johnny McKay (Children Collide) and Jae Laffer (The Panics) each narrate their own personal “Letter to the Song They Wish They’d Written” and perhaps perform it. The audience is then invited to pen and post their own special missives with paper, envelopes and stamps provided.
FILM & PANEL: “Whose Island Home? What Does It Mean To Be An Australian Artist?”
“Wake up – this country needs a f***king shake up…” sang Aussie hip hop crew The Herd in their controversial hit “77%” about racist views towards asylum seekers. But if “Captain Cook was the very first queue jumper (and) it was immigrant labour that made Australia plumper”, then what does it really mean to be Australian? And why, in 2011, do we still suffer from the cultural cringe that rates local sporting heroes over musicians and artists – and demands Aussie artists succeed overseas before they deserve recognition at home?
The Chaser’s Julian Morrow skippers a diverse panel as they navigate the stormy seas of asylum, immigration and national identity – with art as their compass and lifebuoy. Panelists include The Herd frontman Tim Levinson (aka Urthboy); Stav Yiannoukas from Bluejuice; filmmaker Sian Darling and her short film You’d Sing Too, about artists who have survived the refugee experience; Australian Independent Record Labels Association (AIR) general manager Nick O’Byrne, who released The Key Of Sea album of collaborations; former Iranian student protester and author Zarah Ghahramani whose best-seller My Life As A Traitor tells her story of imprisonment by Iranian authorities; Aboriginal actor and 2011 Splendid artist Katherine Beckett; The Chaser’s Dominic Knight and music lawyer Julian Hewitt.
APRA Presents: Songwriters Speak
APRA presents an intimate chat with three Australian songwriters, each at a different stage of their career, including Wally de Backer (aka Gotye), Alexander Gow (Oh Mercy) and Heather Shannon (The Jezabels). Hungry Beast presenter and electropunk singer Monique Schafter chats to the trio of emerging artist, sophomore-album indie darling and established, multi-ARIA award-winner, about their musical influences, lyrical inspirations, favourite songs, musical idols and approaches to the beautiful craft of songwriting.
WIL DOES PARKY
Side-splittingly funny comedian and ABCTV host Wil Anderson returns to SPLENDOUR FORUM with his entertaining Michael Parkinson-style chat show and a sparkling array of guests including former Jane’s Addiction, New Order, QOTSA and Echo &The Bunnymen manager and Lollapalooza co-founder Ted Gardner.
DEBATE: “Social Media: Good or Evil?”
Do social networking sites represent the future of friendship, romance, business and politics? Or are they, as Julian Assange said recently, “appalling spying machines” for governments and an advertising conspiracy to sell us stuff we “like”?
SBS Eurovision host Sam Pang chairs a lively debate about whether Mark Zuckerberg’s revolutionary Facebook software and others like it are ultimately good or evil. Triple J’s tech geek Marc Fennell, comedian Dan Ilic, Can of Worms social media jockey Monique Schafter, Hungry Beast presenter Nick Hayden, The Chaser’s Dominic Knight and media lawyer Julian Hewitt face off about the merits and dangers of posting, friending, liking and tagging.
MUSIC TRIVIA
Team up with your friends and pit your musical wits against celebrity band teams including Eskimo Joe in a session of Music Trivia with hosts Sam Pang and Michaela McGuire.
All the details are on the Splendour website: splendourinthegrass.com
And don’t forget: there are still chances to win one of 10 double passes to Splendour In The Grass, just visit Jagermeister’s Facebook page.
