In 2010 Melbournian artist Sarah Catherine Firth commenced a year long artist in residency program with the Face to Face Project. She went to local primary schools were she ran cartoon workshops for children between the ages of 5-12. During these workshops she would discuss basic human rights issues with the children and they would […]
Emmanuel Jal – a former child soldier and hip-hop singer of worldwide acclaim – spoke to Alicia Sometimes at You Say You Want a Revolution: Emmanuel Jal Speaks, an event presented by the Melbourne Festival and The Wheeler Centre at The Arts Centre on Wednesday 19 October. In 1991, Emmanuel Jal fled his home in […]
The 2011 Melbourne Festival closed with a collaborative musical performance on Saturday 22 October at the open-air Sidney Myer Music Bowl. Notes from the Hard Road and Beyond began at twilight, just a few hours after the Bureau of Meteorology had cancelled a severe thunderstorm warning for the city and surrounding areas. The evening featured […]
With a short run of only four days as part of the Melbourne Festival, those lucky enough to catch Aftermath at the Malthouse bore witness to an astounding piece of theatre that provided an insight into the experience of civilian Iraqis after the arrival of US troops in 2003. Playwrights Jessica Blank and Erik Jensen […]
Bloody regime If the key of paradise was in the hands of Sudan’s regime, I would reject it If the signing of peace accord save Sudan’s regime, I would dismiss it If religion was in the name of Sudan’s regime, I would be godless If prayers bring Darfuri people rights, I will practice it If […]
In Australia, we rarely hear about Bangladesh. Even when we do we are told that half the population lives on less than $1 a day and the low-lying land makes it susceptible to rising sea levels. Extreme poverty and disaster distance it from our daily lives. Desai’s photos attempt to remind his Australian viewers of […]
Written and directed by Scott Rankin, Namatjira is the story of the famous Aboriginal Australian artist Albert Namatjira (1902–1959), whose life and work is celebrated around the world. The play was created with Albert’s family and is part of the Namatjira Project, run by the award-winning arts and social change company Big hART. During the […]
Maree Clarke is a well-respected figure of the south-eastern Australian Aboriginal community for not only her inspirational work supporting Aboriginal artists but also for her own successful career as a visual artist. In her practise she works to revive elements of Aboriginal culture that were lost in the period of colonisation and use art as […]
Tomorrow, the challenge to the Malaysia Solution will be heard before the Full Bench of the High Court amidst claims that asylum seekers registered with the United Nations in Kuala Lumpur are in danger of being refouled to China. Take a moment to read this thoughtful piece by Julian Burnside on Australia’s culture of forgetting. […]
On Friday 22 July 2011, Monash University’s Castan Centre for Human Rights Law Annual Conference was held in Melbourne. Samina Yasmeen, Director of Centre for Muslim States and Societes at UWA addressed the topic “Islamophobia and Multicultural Australia”. Following the speech Right Now writer Hanne M Watkins spoke with Professor Yasmeen about Islamophobia, inclusion, women’s […]
Brook Andrew is an Australian artist known for looking directly at the role of history when creating artwork with historical concerns. With work featured in every major art collection in Australia, his most recent exhibition Paradise is no exception. The exhibition remarks upon the challenging affects that time and cultural perceptions can have on important […]
I came across Freemuse in a rather serendipitous way. An article from a Norwegian newspaper appeared among the results when I googled human rights news and, being Norwegian myself, my interest was piqued. The article was about singer, composer, filmmaker and human rights activist Deeyah and her brainchild, the compilation album Listen to the Banned. […]
