Breakfast Club at the Wheeler Centre
The Breakfast Club is a series of talks events, presented in partnership with the Next Wave Festival, and held at breakfast time: on weekdays at 8am, on weekends at 10am.
From the Wheeler Centre:
“We’re interested in how the world and art collide. In a time of intense political confusion, it’s hard to articulate the changes so many want to see. Artistic practice, with its complex arsenal of the subconscious, is well placed to be a key player.
We’re not interested in expert-led formats; we want big opinions, good discussion and personal stories. And coffee (that’s important).
Each event runs for two hours, and will be punctuated by a series of provocations from artists, key thinkers and our international curators-in-residence.
Arrive at any point. Pull up a chair and a croissant. And dive on in.”
Saturday 19th May 10am ‘The Breakfast Club: This Isn’t a Movement, It’s a Moment: When Public Space, Politics and Art Collide’
The past two years have seen people take to the streets in more and more countries, seeking out change without knowing how to articulate it yet. As Spring warms up the city streets, a different and much harsher kind of authoritarian resistance has greeted New York’s occupiers. So what can we expect from public space in our cities? Where are the spaces that allow the fluid spontaneity and the cut and thrust of debate – city squares, football fields, theatres, libraries, media, the internet? When public space and politics collide, art that creates those cracks of light may be the best tool we have.
Sunday 20th May 10am ‘Can Art be Both Beautiful and Effective?’
“Artists are the people trying to make meaning in the world, and making meaning in the world is very difficult today because we live in an extremely coercive landscape” – Nato Thompson, Chief Curator Creative Time NYC. Next Wave 2012 began with the provocation of generosity and urgency as key issues for contemporary arts practice. The result is a festival with strong political awareness, grounded firmly in discussion not didacticism. What impact does this have? What does it say about the role of artists in society?
Friday 25th May 8am ‘Docklands is an Eyesore. Can Artists and Developers be Friends?’
What role does creativity play in creating liveable environments? What kind of things can squash the creation of a good city? Can we save the post-Spencer St end of our city? Whose job is it to do that? What conditions are required for good times and beautiful spaces? No one wanted it to be this way…
Saturday 26th May 10am ‘Religion and Art: Old Friends, New Discussions’
Gay marriage, rituals and drawing inspiration from disaster: can we be secular and be spiritual? Is this a threat to the old guard? What will be destroyed if more people ask questions of religious leaders?
Sunday 27th May 10am ‘The Breakfast Club: I Wanna be Close to You: Art, Intimacy and Our Obsession with Eating’
Since Rirkrit Tiravanjiya cooked some curry for gallery-goers in the 1990s, contemporary artists have been increasingly interested to feed, share and exchange food obsessions with their audience. At the same time the restaurants scene and celebrity chef craze continues its upwards stratospheric orbit. Art and food have been friends for a long time. So what’s new? Why now? And is it delicious?
Venue: The Wheeler Centre, 176 Little Lonsdale Street, Melbourne