Ideas, issues and debate at the Festival of Colour

Aspiring Conversations returns to the Festival of Colour providing a stimulating programme of thought provoking discussions from some of the country’s keenest minds as part of the six-day celebration of the arts in Lake Wanaka from 12-17 April.

The programme opens on Tuesday 12 April with some of New Zealand’s top visual artists discussing the Festival’s Pouwhenua (Markers on the Land) project that features five large billboards along the Wanaka lakefront. Michel Tuffery, Fleur Elise Noble, Flox, Lonnie Hutchinson and Simon Kaan will talk about their thoughts behind their work.

It’s the ‘big questions’ that get discussed on Wednesday 13 April with Lloyd Geering discussing Where is God when we need him? Theological professor, Lloyd Geering, was tried for heresy in 1967 and he continues to generate passionate debate throughout the country as he asks where is God now, at a time when so many people have abandoned their religious beliefs?

Poet, Glenn Colquhoun and writer, Kate de Goldi, ponder The questions in the middle of the night. This talk stems from Kate de Goldi’s book, The 10pm Questions, which covers the questions a young boy asks his mother every night.

On Thursday 14 April, the creative teams behind the Festival’s two major theatre premiers, Riverside Drive and Rita and Douglas discuss the insights the plays give into the lives of those featured. Jill Trevelyan, Jennifer Ward-Lealand, Dave Armstrong and Michael Houstoun talk about the relationships and art of Rita Angus and Douglas Lilburn. Later on in the day, Graeme Tetley and Sara Brodie discuss the truth, history and drama in Riverside Drive, which is set in the early 50s at a time when New Zealand youth were beginning to challenge the older generation.

Writers Joe Bennett and Roger Hall take to the mic on Thursday 15 April with Roger Hall chronicling his own experience in how writing works in Fifteen years to be an overnight success. Bennett discusses Writing the truth – the art of non-fiction, talking about truth, substance and style in writing.

Bennett returns on Saturday 16 April to spar with journalist and broadcast, Rod Oram, on how real is New Zealand’s clean green image? Later in the day, Oram returns to discuss how we can come up with local solutions for local issues to help drive global change in climate and environmental issues.

The Aspiring Conversations programme closes on Sunday 17 April with Moana Jackson discussing Will Treaty claims never end? Jackson, a lawyer specialising in Treaty of Waitangi and constitutional issues, brings his huge depth of knowledge and sharply critical mind to what promises to be a lively discussion, chaired by festival director, Philip Tremewan.

Tickets are available in advance at www.festivalofcolour.co.nz at $10 per session. If advance tickets sell out, door sales are available for the first 100 with doors opening an hour and a half before the session.

The Festival of Colour takes place from 12-17 April 2011 and is generously supported by Central Lakes Trust, Otago Community Trust, Creative New Zealand and Aurora. For further information visit www.festivalofcolour.co.nz