Concrete Playground

Underlying all symposiums is a question: how do we know what we know? What seems like a straightforward question is in fact difficult to answer. How does knowledge accumulate? How is it shared? Why is it useful? Certainly we know its fundamental to how we perceive current situations and positions, but what is our current situation and position?

The 5th Pacific Thought Symposium promises to offer us a chance to think about such questions under the theme proposed by MAU Artistic Director Lemi Ponifasio, Bringing Forth The Ancestors. With a panel of speakers ranging from artists, cultural leaders, and intellectuals from the Pacific, Australia and Asia, this will be the first time the symposium has been held on this side of the Pacific and is an important step in acknowledging our wider environment and diverse histories.

With a focus on Indigenous issues, both in Australia and abroad, as well as the presentation of a range of differing philosophies and propositions, this looks conducive to some necessary and needed thinking.