Concrete Playground

Batten the hatches around your water cooler, dinner table and pub bench, because once October starts there will be a lot of dangerous ideas kicking around Sydney. Ground zero is the Sydney Opera House, which hosts the third Festival of Dangerous Ideas, and if curators Simon Longstaff and Ann Mossop have their way, their line-up of speakers will provoke many a healthy, heated debate.

Julian Assange will launch the 2011 program with his presentation on September 30th, entitled 'Wikileaks Has Not Gone Far Enough', and he is joined by a brain-buzzing company of controversial thinkers. Top picks include the creative scalpel of Slovenian philosopher Slavoj Žižek, whose drive for communism is guaranteed to ignite mouths and minds; Jonathan Safran Foer's shaking up the food we eat; Sydney performance collective Applespiel's Snail Piece at the Soapbox Stage; the popular reception of human versus animal rights in this country, presented by Julian Burnside; and, the solid gauntlet-tossing of the panels happening throughout the Festival in the Playhouse.

It is exciting to see as well that Longstaff and Mossop are publicly urging their invited speakers to take their presentations beyond what is comfortable in polite company. Politeness these days has become more about fearful self-censorship, rather than a respectful presentation of your beliefs and opinions, and it's time to recognise that we're grown-up enough to handle a bit of controversial thought. Hopefully FoDI will reignite sharp tongues and generous ears in Sydney, during and beyond its dangerous days.

Image by Paul Hackett