International Festival of Arts & Ideas

Social Justice meets sci-fi meets songwriting in this panel discussion between musician, composer, and curator Toshi Reagon; cultural producer & sacred artivist Hanifa Nayo Washington; and writer, activist, educator, and spoken word artist Walidah Imarisha. In partnership with the Yale Schwarzman Center, these award-winning luminaries will touch on themes of Afrofuturism, Octavia Butler, and bringing a creative approach to our understanding of what social justice initiatives of the future might look like.LISTEN ON APPLE PODCASTSThis event is presented in partnership with the Yale Schwarzman Center.

Esta conversación se llevará a cabo en español. This conversation will be held in Spanish. En asociación con Melting the Ice, un podcast y programa de radio bilingüe dedicado a compartir el testimonio de personas directamente afectadas por las detenciones de ICE, el presentador Luis Luna guiará este panel de discusión en el que una breve introducción al sistema de detención actual de ICE servirá como punto de partida para imaginar cómo se vería un mundo sin ICE, y cómo los organizadores y las personas están dando vida a esta visión del mundo radicalmente liberadora en la actualidad. In partnership with Melting the Ice, a bilingual podcast and radio show dedicated to sharing testimonials from people directly impacted by ICE detention, host Luis Luna will guide this panel discussion where a brief introduction to the current ICE detention system will serve as a springboard for imagining what a world without ICE looks and feels like, and exploring how organizers and individuals are bringing this radically liberated world vision into existence today.

How do we create a world where we all care for each other? A world where fewer people have to fight for their rights to exist, while more people acknowledge and accommodate for the abilities of all? Host Lucy Gellman, editor of the New Haven Arts Council's Arts Paper will be joined by cultural producer, performer, and inclusion expert Claudia Alick; poet and writer Cyree Jarelle Johnson; and producer, author and filmmaker Crystal Emery to underscore our need for better social awareness around issues of ableism.LISTEN ON APPLE PODCASTS

If you're wondering where the spiritual "after party" for the Festival will be, look no further than this party in the form of a panel discussion, where New Haven Director of Cultural Affairs Adriane Jefferson will lead a talk among many of the festival's headliners, including theater visionary Madeline Sayet, “wild” (PRI) front man of Mwenso & the Shakes Michael Mwenso, and BLACK HAVEN queer artist and activist Salwa Abdussabur. These luminaries will discuss what a future honoring artistic equity and liberation can (and should!) look like.LISTEN ON APPLE PODCASTS

What would a truly just system look like? In 2021 we saw a surge in anger and action regarding the state of the prison industrial complex, a system that is unjustly imprisoning Black and brown people, profiting off of their imprisonment, and killing our community members. Abolitionists imagine a different justice system that moves beyond punishment into transformative justice that works for all, not some. Facilitator, theater artist, intuitive coach and Queer Black Mama Kristianna Smith leads this panel discussion envisioning a healthy, functioning alternative to our current penal system.LISTEN ON APPLE PODCASTS

Monuments shape the fabric of our landscapes and serve as permanent reminders of what and who our society values. They are installed to commemorate moments and people from the past that we want to carry forward, to demonstrate our achievements and mourn our losses. In the past five years, tensions have escalated around the United States as people have worked to eliminate painful reminders of racism, colonialism, and other forms of oppression, and rethink their roles in American mythology. Host Adriane Jefferson, Director of Cultural Affairs for the City of New Haven, will lead this panel discussion with artists and experts who will speak on issues ranging from the riots in Charlottesville to the removal of our own Christopher Columbus statue in New Haven.LISTEN ON APPLE PODCASTS

Celebrate the necessary and overdue passage of the Connecticut CROWN Act -- which prohibits workplace discrimination on the basis of traits historically associated with race, including hair -- with this joyous panel discussion. Malakhi Eason, the Festival's Director of Programming and Community Impact, will moderate a panel of community advocates, beauty experts, and multi-dimensional artists on topics ranging from the politics and art of hair to styling trends.LISTEN ON APPLE PODCASTS

Imagine a creative life that unfolds in layers, fueled by your happiest memories of connection and belonging. Two-time business owner Alisa Bowens-Mercado has taken many a plunge into uncharted waters, making history while removing obstacles in the path for others. Hear how she is changing the game for craft brewing in Connecticut, and what "rhythm" has got to do with it. Bowens-Mercado will be joined in conversation by Randi McCray, co-founder of the Urban Collective, in a Q&A for aspiring entrepreneurs, followed by a brief ceremony to entrust artifacts from the two brands Alisa has built (so far!) into the collection of the New Haven Museum.LISTEN ON APPLE PODCASTS

How would it change your life if you had everything you needed within a 15-minute walk? Throughout the world, architects, city planners and community organizers are constructing aesthetically pleasing, human-centered cities that rely less on cars and other nonrenewable resources while providing more opportunities for people to live well. From bikes to helipads and high-speed trains, experts from around the world and close to home are developing the latest strides in transportation and eco-design. Join radio journalist and moderator John Dankosky for this series of short presentations from around the world followed by a panel discussion, in partnership with architecture firm Pickard Chilton and the CT Mirror.LISTEN ON APPLE PODCASTS

Raven A. Blake, cultural worker, community organizer and Founder and Visionary of Love Fed New Haven, hosts a conversation with global majority organizers and artisans who were working in mutual aid prior to the pandemic and who continue this vital work today. Panelists will engage with the legacy and power of love and its role in their collective past as well as how it shapes their work and visions for the future. What are alternatives to charity that empower communities to care for each other? Panelists include Farron Harvey, Disha Patel, Leah Penniman, Rachel Sayet, Tenaya Taylor, and Charline Xu.LISTEN ON APPLE PODCASTS

Hear from Indigenous voices on the climate knowledge that has existed in their communities for generations and the practical solutions that can spur a better collective attempt at caring for our planet.LISTEN ON APPLE PODCASTS

Podcasters Maria Isa & Jessica Lopez Lyman of Latina Theory moderate a discussion between authors Paola Mendoza and Abby Sher about their new book SANCTUARY.MORE INFO ABOUT SANCTUARY:Paola Mendoza, the co-founder of the Women’s March makes her YA debut in a near future dystopian where a young girl and her brother must escape a xenophobic government to find sanctuary.It’s 2032, and in this near-future America, all citizens are chipped and everyone is tracked–from buses to grocery stores. It’s almost impossible to survive as an undocumented immigrant, but that’s exactly what sixteen-year-old Vali is doing. She and her family have carved out a stable, happy life in small-town Vermont, but when Vali’s mother’s counterfeit chip starts malfunctioning and the Deportation Forces raid their town, they are forced to flee. Now on the run, Vali and her family are desperately trying to make it to her tía Luna’s in California, a sanctuary state that is currently being walled off from the rest of the country. But when Vali’s mother is detained before their journey even really begins, Vali must carry on with her younger brother across the country to make it to safety before it’s too late.Gripping and urgent, co-authors Paola Mendoza and Abby Sher have crafted a narrative that is as haunting as it is hopeful in envisioning a future where everyone can find sanctuary.Sanctuary is available for purchase from People Get Ready Books.Add the word SANCTUARY in the comment of your order to receive a 10% discount (an additional 10% will be donated to the Semilla Collective.)

Philosophers Pamela Hieronymi and Todd May, who served as philosophy advisors on the acclaimed television comedy, The Good Place (NBC), explore the nature of goodness and its role in society, an especially poignant and visceral subject against the backdrop of the current public health crisis.LISTEN ON APPLE PODCASTS

AN ACTIVIST SONGBOOK DISCUSSIONJoin the Activist Songbook team as fellow artists and activists discuss how we can raise our voices to become agents for social change and what People of the Global Majority (PGM) allyship looks like. We grapple with questions like:What are the roles of theatre, art and activism in a highly politicized environment?What responsibility does the artist and the activist have in a ‘democracy’ and how does that responsibility translate into mobilization?What steps are needed to transform art into social action?How does activism directly shape political movements?How do PGM artists and activists support each other and their movements through their artistic voices? Moderated by Annie Lin, Associate Director of Arts Programs, Yale-China, the panel features Diane Phelan, Director/Actress and founder of the Broadway Diversity Project as well as the #RacismIsAVirus and #UnapologeticallyAsian movements; Kristina Wong, Performance Artist tackling a wide range of social justice issues and an elected representative in Los Angeles, CA; Lily Tung Crystal, award-winning Artistic Leader and Multimedia Producer currently serving as Artistic Director of Theatre Mu in the Twin Cities, and Adrian Huq, Youth Activist, Artist, and Organizer with a focus on climate justice.LISTEN ON APPLE PODCASTS

Join Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative reporter and creator of the landmark 1619 Project for The New York Times Magazine Nikole Hannah-Jones in conversation with the host of The Center For Investigative Reporting’s Reveal podcast, Al Letson, and New Haven local columnist, communications specialist and founder of The Narrative Project, Mercy Quaye. The journalists will discuss the local, national, and global impact of American slavery and liberation on democracy in America and our relationship with truth and history. This talk will include a special performance by New Haven musician Paul Bryant Hudson. Presented In Partnership with The Narrative Project.LISTEN ON APPLE PODCASTS

John Dankosky invites Khalilah Brown-Dean, Political Science Professor at Quinnipiac University, and others to reflect on identity politics at this disorienting time when a new identity has emerged in our society: “essential.”

John Dankosky moderates this talk exploring the intersection of housing and democracy with Connecticut experts including Karen DuBois Walton (Executive Director of the Elm City Communities/Housing Authority of the City of New Haven), Jacqueline Rabe Thomas (Reporter for the Connecticut Mirror), and Alexis Highsmith Smith (Executive Director of New Haven Legal Aid). listen on apple podcasts

A conversation with Native American artists and leaders who offer their perspective on issues of sovereignty, ancestry, and post-pandemic survival, organized in partnership with theater director Madeline Sayet and featuring Tara Moses, Asa Benally, Ty Defoe, Mary Katheryn Nagle, Kinsale Hueston.listen on apple podcasts

Historian Quan Tran, sociologist Jasmina Besirevic-Regan, and Nour Al Zouabi, a Syrian refugee, share their personal stories and professional perspectives on borders, migration, and democracy.listen on apple podcasts

Former Connecticut Secretary of State Miles Rapoport moderates a conversation with political commentator and author Heather McGhee, political activist and CEO of Voto Latino María Teresa Kumar, and political scholar Archon Fung, all of whom have spent their lives working to strengthen our democracy. Together they will explore the question: Where do we go from here?listen on apple podcasts

The 2012 Inaugural Poet Richard Blanco is joined by four-time Grammy Award winner Angélique Kidjo, Lakota playwright Larissa FastHorse, and Founder of Theatre of the Oppressed NYC and New Haven native Katy Rubin who reflect on their roles as mediators and responders during times of great social challenge.LISTEN ON APPLE PODCASTS

A conversation about income inequality in the U.S. with Anand Giridharadas, author of the recently published Winners Take All: The Elite Charade of Changing the World (Alfred A. Knopf, 2018).In his book, Giridharadas asks hard questions: Why, for example, should our gravest problems be solved by the unelected upper crust instead of the public institutions it erodes by lobbying and dodging taxes? He also points toward an answer: Rather than rely on scraps from the winners, we must take on the grueling democratic work of building more robust, egalitarian institutions and truly changing the world.Giridharadas is an editor-at-large for Time, an on-air political analyst for MSNBC, and a visiting scholar at the Arthur L. Carter Journalism at NYU. His others books include The True American: Murder and Mercy in Texas, and India Calling: An Intimate Portrait of a Nation’s Remaking.LISTEN ON APPLE PODCASTSCurious where you can get a copy of Anand's book Winners Take All?We encourage you to support our local independent bookselllers:People Get Ready: https://peoplegetreadybooks.indielite.orgAtticus (taking book orders by phone): http://www.atticusbookstorecafe.com Books & Company (Hamden): https://www.booksandcohamden.com RJ Julia (Madison): https://www.rjjulia.com/

In this Ideas event—also part of the NEA Big Read—poet Stephanie Burt discusses her book Advice From The Lights (Graywolf Press, 2017), an essential work that asks who we are, how we become ourselves, and why we make art. Burt is a poet, literary critic, and professor hailed by The New York Times as “one of the most influential poetry critics of [her] generation.” Her other collections of poems include Belmont, Parallel Play, and Popular Music.

Listen on Apple PodcastsJoined by Activist Songbook Composer Byron Au Yong and Lyricist Aaron Jafferis, a panel of artists/activists will discuss music and its role in activism and democracy. Joined by a panel that includes local New Haven activist/musician New Haven musician Paul Bryant Hudson and nationally recognized organizers including Kit Yan & Melissa Li, co-creators of Interstate, we will learn how music can be a tool to effect change at every level of our democracy. How does music change people, history, and reality? What draws you to songs that name and fight oppression, versus songs that claim liberation and create the new world we're stepping into, versus both? How do you see music effecting political change within this election year, and how can it be a voice of democracy at large?Additional support for the Activist Songbook Panel Discussion is provided by the New England States Touring Program of the New England Foundation for the Arts, made possible with funding from the National Endowment for the Arts Regional Touring Program and the six New England state arts agencies.For more Activist Songbook programs, click here.The Ideas Program is presented in partnership with Connecticut Humanities, a non-profit affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities, with additional leadership support of The Whitney Center and media sponsor CT Public.

Listen on Apple PodcastsIn this talk, from our 10th Annual Visionary Leadership Award, George Takei, the pioneering actor, social media superstar, Grammy-nominated recording artist, and New York Times bestselling author is joined in conversation with composer, Byron Au Yong.

Listen on Apple PodcastsJoin Yale-China Arts Fellows Sarah Xiao (dance) and Nicole Pun (visual art) as they share how their residency in New Haven has shaped their art. 

listen on apple podcastsImproved resilience and health. Enhanced ability to manage stress and anxiety. Through mindful awareness, we can avoid being on “auto-pilot,” and more often consciously choose how we live. And there is good scientific evidence that mindful practices help us to be more compassionate, toward ourselves and others. Area experts Shirley Chock, Dr. Ginger Nash, and Hanifa Nayo Washington share healing habits that we can all experience ourselves. 

In a lively talk moderated by Nicole Merritt, musicians Kaki King, Spencer Topel, and Jay Alan Zimmerman share how they are using data not just to make sounds but to see and experience music. Kaki King’s 2020 Arts & Ideas commissioned Data Not Found explores how big data and personal data have come to affect our lives, and what those effects look and sound like, Yale Quantum Institute Artist-in-Residence Spencer Topel breaks down the sounds of a single moving electron, and composer Jay Alan Zimmerman discusses his collaboration with Google and their music visualization tools.

We spend so much energy trying to cultivate healthier habits. But what might our days feel like if, instead, we question and cut out just one habit for a short period of time? What discomfort might manifest when social media, sugar, or instant self-deprecating thought are gone from our days? How might we face that space? With time, how might our physical, social, and inner lives transform? With insight from experts in neuroscience, psychology, medicine, art, and design, Jacqueline Raposo, author of The Me, Without, guides how reframing habits can lead to healing, happiness, and a purposeful personal path.

Join visionary and inspiring leaders, Dr. Ellen Frank—founder Cities of Peace, an innovative peace and visual arts program that honors the history and culture of world cities that have suffered trauma and strife and multi visual artist, photographer and educator, Luciana McClure— for a conversation on how healing, dignity and understanding of seemingly different cultures is possible.

An·thro·po·cene: /ˈanTHrəpəˌsēn/ the current geological age, viewed as the period during which human activity has been the dominant influence on climate and the environment. Internationally acclaimed theater director and creator Thaddeus Phillips will talk about the underpinnings, the basis and challenge of his new theatrical adventure, ANTROPOCENO - a new work that begins development for the Teatro de La Abadía in Madrid, Spain in June of 2019.

FEATURING NEW HAVEN / NORTHEAST WRITERS AND SPOKEN WORD ARTISTS KEONA-MARIE, DUKE PORTER, YEXANDRA DIAZ, AND PAUL BRYANT HUDSON Poets and other creative writers from the northeastern United States share poems and conversation about the shifting relationship between identity and place. How can poets and other culture creators challenge or shift the identity of a place? How can a place challenge or shift our own intersecting identities?

FEATURING NEW HAVEN YOUTH ACTIVISTS MIA JOSEPH, LIHAME AROUNA, KELLY PINOTS, AND SHAWN MURRAY asking the questions: What do you imagine your New Haven to look like? How do you feel your identity is connected to your activism? What are youth activists doing to combat gentrification, racism, over-surveillance downtown?

2019 is the 400th Anniversary of the arrival of the first Africans to be sold into bondage in North America in 1619 at Jamestown. Mindy Fullilove, MD and representatives of the 400 Years of Inequality coalition share stories of oppression and resistance.

Supreme Easy A.D. of the Legendary Cold Crush Brothers and Nikki D the first female emcee signed to Def Jam Records engage in an in-depth conversation sharing a rare glimpse into the birth of Hip Hop as a culture & their inside perspectives of Hip Hop's contribution to the world and the music industry.

Alison Roman is known as much for her keeper recipes as her wry Instagram voice and effortless style. Roman’s recipes set today’s trends and will show up as tomorrow’s classics: vegetable-forward with quality ingredients, punctuated by standout flavors like hot honey browned butter, preserved lemon, za’atar, and garlicky walnuts.

Fact can be as strange as fiction. It can also be as dark, as violent, as rapturous. Veering back and forth between the grittiest features of a small arctic town, the electrifying proximity of the world of animals, and ravishing world of myth, Tanya Tagaq explores a world where the distinctions between good and evil, animal and human, victim and transgressor, real and imagined lose their meaning, but the guiding power of love remains. Haunting, brooding, exhilarating, and tender all at once, Tagaq moves effortlessly between fiction and memoir, myth and reality, poetry and prose, and conjures a world and a heroine readers will never forget.

In the Age of Experience, how can one drive actionable social change through deepened physical and digital live story-sharing systems? A leader in immersive experiences, Mikhael Tara Garver will delve into the combining powers that experience, entertainment, and fandom can have on empowering social change.

It has become a Festival tradition for our high school Festival Fellows to begin our Festival and Ideas program with their own Town Hall. Join them this year as they explore the themes of Jhumpa Lahiri’s The Namesake, opening up a public discussion examining the importance of one's culture and background, gender, and name.

As a Festival Director in Europe and Australia, Jonathan Holloway has repeatedly reinvented the ways in which festivals explore, reclaim and celebrate their city for all those who use it, from the traditional custodians of the land to the latest arrivals, and all the people in between. Festivals are the ultimate “pop-up” dwelling, prompting new types of instant communities and acting as a depth-charge of creativity to rediscover who we are. Jonathan will talk about some of the immersive experiences and large-scale spectaculars he has devised in London and Norwich (UK), Perth and Melbourne (Australia), and the lessons and tricks we can all take away from these transformative events.

New England is filled with old factory buildings and other remnants of our industrial history. This built environment is one of our distinguishing characteristics, but it also provides challenges as our cities grow and adapt. How do we best reuse spaces that contain cultural importance? How do we balance this adaptive conservation with the need for new civic spaces? Join us for a live event NEXT in collaboration with The Cities Project as we travel around our region and learn about how communities are honoring their industrial heritage while looking to the future. This talk features: JOHN DANKOSKY, ELIHU RUBIN, CATHY STANTON, NICO WHEADON, AND JOHN THOMAS

How do we honor this landmark in a struggle that began before the “first brick was thrown” and still continues? How do we tribute the indignation, outrageousness (fabulousness) and complexity of ALL those present 50 years ago – without retroactively endowing them with certainty or cohesion or de-problematizing their differences? An informal talk with award winning playwright Ain Gordon and rural queer/trans organizer HB Lozito.

What does a venture capitalist have in common with a Venetian man brought to life by Shakespeare more than 400 years ago? Our panel features experts in both economics and the Bard drawing parallels between the characters of The Merchant of Venice and the behavior of modern consumers and investors. Participants: Steve Mentz (moderator), Erik Blachford, Tara Bradway, Judith Chevalier, and Holly Dugan.

How do you envisage something that would be altered simply by your own observation of it? Join Quantum Physicist Michel Devoret and Visual Artist Martha W. Lewis to investigate the relationships between art and science, to discuss their collaboration, and the benefits of engaging in multidisciplinary activities. Conversation moderated by Florian Carle.

How was Germany able to transition from the “sick man” of Europe in the 1990s into the political and economic predominance within the European Union it is today? Director of the Yale Program in European Union Studies, David Cameron, looks at what the future holds for Europe.

Curators play a significant role in shaping the visual dialogue of our times, in ways that are often mysterious or obscure in the minds of the museum-going public. Keely Orgeman and Justin Brown will have a conversation delving into the curatorial process, addressing a range of considerations—from logistical to political—involved in the implementation of exhibitions and the interpretation of collections.

MacArthur Fellow and Musical America’s 2018 Educator of the Year, Francisco J. Núñez, is a composer, conductor, visionary, leading figure in music education, and the artistic director/founder of the Young People’s Chorus of New York City (YPC), renowned worldwide for its diversity and artistic excellence. Francisco's talk explores his visionary work with YPC, offering a bold new model for music-making that can inspire ensembles all over the country and throughout the world. He will be joined by several members of his ensemble.

When Claudia Rankine was recognized by the MacArthur Foundation in 2016, she used her $625,000 award to build an extraordinary Interdisciplinary Cultural Library to provide a platform for artists and scholars to explore the idea of race. Two curators for The Racial Imaginary Institute—essayist and painter, LeRonn P. Brooks, Ph.D. and renowned poet and lawyer Monica Youn—will lead a discussion of this new model of art curation, collaboration, and its role in lifting voices that are otherwise unheard through galleries and museums.

Chris George, Executive Director of IRIS with a panel of guests lead a lively discussion of refugee resettlement in Connecticut. Where do refugees come from? How are they selected? How can we be sure they are not terrorists? How does the community get involved? How do refugees enrich our country? Why and how is the Trump Administration destroying the refugee program?

Look at our city. What do you see? Who do you see? Mindy Thompson Fullilove, MD, psychiatrist and founder of the University of Orange, with University of Orange colleagues Molly Rose Kaufman and Aubrey Murdock examine urban divides caused by serial forced displacement and offer new ways of seeing that help to restore the urban ecosystem. Moderated by Kyle Pedersen.

How did the newly established Islamic Republic regulate music following the 1979 revolution, and what have been the effects of those policies on music in contemporary Iran? Journalist and author, Nahid Siamdoust shares from her book, "Soundtrack of the Revolution: The Politics of Music in Iran", an alternative history of post-revolutionary Iran viewed through the field of music.