Despite the difficult circumstances this year, the growth of our HCP online programme, including our Big Tent! Live Event series, has enabled us to engage with a wider, more global audience than ever before. This has been made possible through the commitment and collaboration of everyone involved both on and off screen. Our Big Tent! Live Event series via YouTube livestreams has reached tens of thousands of viewers worldwide. This term, in addition to our usual programme we are also delighted to support multiple partners within the University, including the Institute for Ethics in AI to host their Ethics in AI series, which has already brought together speakers across continents for fascinating discussions reaching thousands of viewers too.
Read on to find out about recent highlights and to get our future events in your diary.
Highlights:
Talking Afropean
We collaborated with Writers Make Worlds to host Johny Pitts, author of Afropean, in conversation about his travelogue on Black Europe. The fascinating discussion with Professor Elleke Boehmer and Professor Simukai Chigudu covered the influence of hip hop on Pitts' writing, the origins and usefulness of 'Afropean' as a term, and the power of Toni Morrison's words 'I stood at the border... and claimed it as central'. We were fortunate enough to hold the conversation in person at the Ultimate Picture Palace, livestreamed to audiences European and global.
https://www.youtube.com/embed/niYwo8j3kWg
Discovering Delius
The Villiers Quartet performed the world premiere of Delius's String Quartet, which had, until recently, been incomplete. Professor Daniel Grimley and Dr Joanna Bullivant led a fascinating explanation of the rediscovery of the piece and how it had been brought to performance.
In conversation with Katie Mitchell and Ben Whishaw
New HCP Visiting Fellow in Theatre, Katie Mitchell, and award-winning actor Ben Whishaw, explored our TORCH Goes Digital! theme of 'Liveness'. Chaired by Director of TORCH, Professor Wes Williams, the conversation covered making environmentally sustainable theatre, incorporating new technologies, and being an actor in lockdown.