Get ready for gorgeous art, circus stunts, science insights, grandmothers' wisdom, life drawing and lots of twerking - and that's just the start of the festival line-up that will WOW Brisbane at QUT and QPAC this month!
The WOW (Women of the World) Brisbane festival will be held at QUT's Gardens Point campus and QPAC from June 19 to 21 and will be the biggest event ever in Brisbane to celebrate the lives of women through keynotes, talks, debates, performances, workshops, speed-mentoring, a marketplace, exhibitions and community-building.
The three-day festival has become a global phenomenon since launching at Southbank Centre, London, in 2011.
Speakers will include author and feminist Kathy Lette, WOW founder and Southbank Centre London artistic director of Jude Kelly, 2015 Queensland Young Australian of the Year Yassmin Abdel-Magied, Sex Discrimination Commissioner Elizabeth Broderick, and jouralists Hannah Pool and Jane Caro.
Tickets are available as one-day ($60 to $80) or three-day passes ($175 to $200), with two performances ticketed separately (Wrecking Ball and Women in Voice).
Former Governor-General of Australia Quentin Bryce (pictured above, at the Quarternary exhibition at QUT Art Museum) is patron of WOW Australia and will be guest speaker at a panel titled Grandmothers Know Best and on another panel examining Women and Power, which will be broadcast live by ABC Radio National.
Professor Sue Street (also pictured above) is the director of QUT Precincts and is overseeing the events being staged at QUT over the three days.
These include:
- the Quaternary exhibition featuring women graduates of QUT Visual Arts (QUT Art Museum)
- Wrecking Ball, starring Australian cabaret star Naomi Price (and QUT drama graduate) as Miley Cyrus (Gardens Theatre)
- performances & workshops by Vulcana Women's Circus (ouside Old Government House)
- speed mentoring (15 minutes) sessions with experts across many fields (QUT)
- BrisStyle Markets (campus grounds)
- In the pink discussion on the gender politics of colour (QUT Art Museum)
- a life drawing workshop with Archibald Prize winner Davida Allen (William Robinson Gallery in Old Government House)
- At the Cutting Edge discussion on women in science and technology, including QUT's award-winning PhD aerospace researcher Vanessa Lussini (QUT)
Professor Street said WOW had become a global phenomenon with festivals held in 24 locations around the world.
"This is the inaugural WOW Brisbane festival and QUT is delighted to be principal sponsor of such a landmark event," she said.
"Our Gardens Point campus has become a cultural hub for Brisbane, with thousand of visitors coming through each year to the Gardens Theatre, QUT Art Museum, Old Government House, the William Robinson Gallery and The Cube.
"QUT has a great track record of innovative women of the world and events like WOW help us take stock of all that we have achieved - and where we are headed next."
WOW embraces the whimsical but also tackles serious issues by taking a frank look at the lives of women and girls and the obstacles that stand in the way of them reaching their full potential.
Ms Bryce said gender equality was the key to our human rights - and to our share economic future.
"We need to lead our community to a better place - one in which women and girls are safe and valued and able to make their full contribution, and in which we all reap the benefits of their drive, ingenuity, talents, skills, and wisdom," she said.
Jude Kelly, the WOW founder and artistic director of Southbank Centre, London, said there was not a country in the world that could honestly say it had achieved gender equality.
"I'm thrilled that Brisbane women will be part of making this global change happen," she said.
"Every community has a unique set of stories, challenges and solutions and I'm very excited by how local discussion has shaped the Brisbane programme of ideas and events. It will be a tremendous festival."
One-day passes or three-day passes for WOW can be booked online through QTIX. Tickets to Wrecking Ball can be booked separately through GardensTix.
Entry to the QUT Art Museum and the Quarternary exhibition is free.
For the full WOW program visit the festival site, http://wowaustralia.com.au.
The WOW Brisbane festival is produced by new Brisbane non profit Of One Mind, along with festival directors Cathy Hunt and Leigh Tabrett.
Media contacts:
- Mechelle McMahon, QUT media officer, media@qut.edu.au
- Sian Conway Lamb, QUT Precincts senior marketing officer, 07 3138 3248 or sian.conwaylamb@qut.edu.au
