HiRise & Human Rights in the Media – Mid-Week Reviews
This week Athena Rogers reviews the refugee Melbourne Fringe Festival performance HiRise, and Pia White takes a look at discussions of violence in the media in the monthly media review.
Free speech – Page 8
A Right to Violence?
Are liberty and violence morally irreconcilable? Isabella Royce asks us to ask again in this think piece on the relationship between the right to protest, violence as a political technique and violent government reactions.
Dear Australia
Are you “Australian enough?” Fed up with that question, and what it implies, Yasmin Hassen writes an open letter to Australia.
Kick-Ass 2 – Mid-Week Review
Kick-Ass 2 is so much poorer than its predecessor that together they offer an informative case study on Hollywood’s obsession with violence, writes Sam Ryan.
Interview with Arnold Zable
Grace Jennings-Edquist chats with Australian author Arnold Zable about giving voice to migrant and refugee experiences through literature.
Tony Birch on “Bridging the Gap”
Hear Tony Birch discuss our event this weekend at the Melbourne Writers Festival and why he supports Right Now.
“Subversive” by Pataphysics – Mid-week Review
Music offers a powerful medium for dealing with human rights issues, and Melbourne-based hip hop trio Pataphysics tap into a mood of discontent through beats, bass and hypnotic tracks on their album Subversive, writes Sonia Nair.
We Steal Secrets – Mid-Week Review
Alex Gibney promised an in-depth look at Wikileaks in his latest documentary, We Steal Secrets, but, like many, has struggled to look past the personality of its main man, writes Maya Borom.
Australia and the Trans-Pacific Partnership
The Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) is likely to become one of the world’s most significant free trade deals. But while Australia is one of the major parties, Australians could be excused for drawing a blank on the name. Stephanie Murphy discusses the regional agreement, internet freedom, big pharma and the perils of free-trade.
The Reluctant Fundamentalist – Mid-Week Review
By Maya Borom. Mira Nair’s film adaptation of Pakistani author Moshin Hamid’s bookof the same name provides a delicate introspection into protagonist Changez’s (Riz Ahmed) struggle with his western consumerist driven identity and his eastern cultural, religious and familial background. This struggle is told as a first person narrative to investigative journalist Bobby Lincoln who […]
The Power of Song
This article is part of our April and May focus on Arts and Human Rights. By Les Thomas One of the problems that music and human rights share is that they’re too often seen as optional extras, rather than necessities; especially in a rich country like Australia, where their roles in keeping body and soul […]
Fashioning Human Rights
By Sienna Merope This article is part of our April & May focus on Art and Human Rights. Writing about the contribution of fashion to human rights can feel like a bit of an uphill battle. First, there is the not totally undeserved perception that as an industry and a creative practice, fashion has little […]