The Festival of Dangerous Ideas is back this November, and has plans to uphold its fearsome reputation with a whole new venue; the previously ‘off-limits to the public for over 100 years’ CockatooIsland. Co-founded by The Sydney Opera House and The Ethic Centre in 2009, this festival is one that will have you nodding along while simultaneously thinking, “wait… can they really ask that?”
FODI’s Festival Director, Danielle Harvey, describes CockatooIsland as “a perfect match for FODI; an evocative place to discuss our most dangerous ideas.” FODI’s intention is to foster critical thinking and the ability to disagree, and it has taken its previous 157,000 festival-goers on uniquely unexpected and confronting journeys.
And what ideas might these be? In previous years, the hot topics on hand have included, ‘is torture necessary?’, ‘the end of men’, ‘open the borders’, and ‘a foetus is not a person’. If these points of discussion don’t yet have you packing your bags, you might know a few of the previous thought leaders that have spearheaded conversation at FODI; Julian Assange, Germaine Greer, Pussy Riot, and Tariq Ali.
Despite rich history of exploring issues pertaining to asylum, gender, race, justice and politics, FODI has arguably never been as relevant as it is in 2018. Harvey stated that “knowing who to trust and what to believe has never been so complicated. These dangerous conversations are even more critical when truth and clarity are hard to find.”
The topics of discussion have not yet been released, but if you sign up via email on the FODI website you’ll be among the lucky first few to see the festival program.
