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Bristol Festival of Ideas’ first winter festival looks at identity, the nature of the city and what makes cities
special and Bristol a special place. Sessions include an exploration of the edgelands of the city, and the legacy of Jane Jacobs 50 years on from the publication of The Death and Life of Great American Cities.
DANNY DORLING
THE STATE OF CONTEMPORARY BRITAIN AND ITS CITIES
THU 1 DEC 6.00pm
£7.20/£5.60 Concs
Danny Dorling is one of Britain’s leading geographers – in fact Simon Jenkins calls him ‘Geographer Royal by Appointment to the Left’. He dissects the nation and reveals unexpected truths about the way we live today and why inequality exists.
PAUL FARLEY, OLIVIA LAING, MICHAEL SYMMONS ROBERTS
EDGELANDS, CITIES AND PLACES
THU 1 DEC 7.30pm
£7.20/£5.60 Concs
Passed through and ignored, the edgelands have become the great wild places on our doorsteps. Poets Paul Farley and Michael Symmons Roberts allow this in-between world to speak up for itself. They are joined by Olivia Laing, who looks at how history resides in a landscape.
SIMON BRADLEY AND ANDREW FOYLE IN CONVERSATION
Pevsner Guide to North Somerset and Bristol
FRI 2 DEC 6.00pm
£5.00/£4.00 Concs
Author Andrew Foyle discusses the architectural highlights of one of England’s most rewarding regions with series editor Simon Bradley, from the Georgian Spa at Bath to some of Brunel’s greatest designs.
URBANIZED
FRI 2 DEC 7.30pm
£7.20/5.60 Concs
Helvetica director Gary Hustwit’s new documentary on city design.
GEOFF DYER, ANNA MANSFIELD,BEN ROGERS AND P D SMITH
Jane Jacobs and The Future of the City
Sat 3 Dec 12.00pm
£7.20 /£5.60 concs
2011 marks the 50th anniversary of the publication of probably the best book ever written about the city: Jane Jacobs’ The Death and Life of Great American Cities. This special panel discuss Jacobs, her work and impact and what she tells us about today’s city and the future of the city.
GEOFF DYER
SAT 3 DEC 2.00pm
£5.00/£4.00 concs
Geoff Dyer is one of Britain’s most exciting and original writers. He will be talking about his recent work including Jeff in Venice, Death in Varanasi.
BARONESS SUSAN GREENFIELD
YOU AND ME: THE NEUROSCIENCE OF IDENTITY
SAT 3 DEC 2.00pm
£7.20/£5.60 Concs
Susan Greenfield looks at how our identities are changing in the 21st century from the unique perspective of neuroscience.
IAIN SINCLAIR
GHOST MILK AND OTHER TALES OF WALKING
SAT 3 DEC 5.00pm
£7.20/£5.60 Concs
Iain Sinclair is a great walker and writer of cities and places. He looks at our possible futures as well as making his most powerful statement yet on the throwaway impermanence of the present.
JULIAN BAGGINI
THE EGO TRICK: WHAT IT MEANS TO BE YOU
SAT 3 DEC 6.30pm
£7.20/£5.60 Concs
With his usual wit, infectious curiosity and bracing scepticism, Julian Baggini delves into real-life cases of lost memory, personality disorders and personal transformation; and, candidly describes his own experiences in his search.
LAURA OLDFIELD FORD
SAVAGE MESSIAH
SAT 3 DEC 7.35pm
£5.00/£4.00 concs
Savage Messiah collects together the entire set of artist Laura Oldfield Ford’s fanzines to date. Part graphic novel, part artwork, her work is both an angry polemic against the marginalization of the working class and an exploration of urban space. Laura Oldfield Ford held a public art exhibition commissioned by Arnolfini in Feb 2011. Prints from the exhibition are available in the Bookshop.
DOUG SAUNDERS
ARRIVAL CITIES
SUN 4 DEC 1.30pm
£7.20/£5.60 Concs
It’s in cities that the future of the world will be decided. Journalist Doug Saunders provides a detailed tour of the key points in the Great Migration by the world’s rural populations and considers the actions that have turned this enormous population shift into either a success or a violent failure.
PAULINE BLACK
BLACK BY DESIGN
SUN 4 DEC 3.00pm
£7.20/£5.60 Concs
Lead singer for The Selecter, Pauline Black was of Anglo-Jewish/Nigerian parents. Adopted by a white, working class family, Pauline was always made to feel different, both by the local community and members of her extended family. She reflects on this experience and what it says about identity.
MAKE NO LITTLE PLANS
DANIEL BURNHAM AND THE AMERICAN CITY
SUN 4 DEC 4.30pm
£5.00/£4.00 concs
The film that showed how Chicago, and Daniel Burnham planned for the future of the city – cited as one of the greatest plans ever created for a city.
SIR ROY STRONG
ENGLISH IDENTITY AND THE ROOTS OF ENGLISHNESS
SUN 4 DEC 6.00pm
£7.20/£5.60 Concs
Roy Strong argues that it is the rural tradition – combining aestheticism, pastoralism and patriotism – that offers an answer to the present crisis of English identity.
BRISTOL GENIUS
Bristol Genius events celebrate the work of creative people in the city. Events are free, but must be booked on the relevant event page on www.ideasfestival.co.uk – All events are Free
TOM ABBA THIS ISN’T THE FUTURE OF THE BOOK THU 1 DEC 7.30pm
MADGE DRESSER BRISTOL AS A CITY OF REFUGEES FRI 2 DEC 6.00pm
PETER LORD THE PIRATES! IN AN ADVENTURE WITH SCIENTISTS SAT 3 DEC 3.30pm
SARAH COX THE AARDMAN/TATE PROJECT SUN 4 DEC 3.00pm
MIKE RAWLINSON BUILDING A COMPLETE LEGIBLE CITY SUN 4 DEC 4.30pm