HowTheLightGetsIn

HowTheLightGetsIn Talk Tent

HowTheLightGetsIn is the world's largest philosophy and music festival, hosted by the Institute of Art and Ideas.[1] It aims "to get philosophy out of the academy and into people's lives"[2] by bringing together philosophers, writers, academics, comedians and musicians for debate, talks, music and late night parties. Previous speakers include Vince Cable, Philip Pullman, Robert Skidelsky, Laurie Penny and many more. Held at the same time as the Hay Festival, and based in a beautiful riverside setting by the banks of the Wye, HowTheLightGetsIn attracts over 30,000 visitors each year. Accommodation is camping or in luxury yurt.

HowTheLightGetsIn 2015 'Fantasy and Reality

Described as "Europe's answer to TED", the festival for 2015 took place from 21 to 31 May 2015 and included performances and talks from Simon Blackburn, Mike Skinner, George Galloway, Natalie Bennett, Lawrence Krauss, Michael Howard, Lianne La Havas, Rae Morris and many more. As part of the festival, New College of the Humanities presented the IAI School. Aimed at 16- to 18-year-olds, and led by world-leading thinkers, the IAI School explored topics such as Free Will and Politics, Sex Ethics and Morality, in a fun festival environment.[3]

HowTheLightGetsIn 2014 'Heresy, Truth and the Future

Following a successful 2013 festival, HTLGI 2014 attracted over 35,000 visitors across 450 events.[4] Speakers and performers included Roger Penrose, Brooke Magnanti, Bruce Parry, Doon Mackichan, Cory Doctorow, Owen Jones, David Nutt, Molotov Jukebox, Moulettes, and Mr Scruff.

HowTheLightGetsIn 2012 'Uncharted Territory: Progress for a New Era'

The 2012 festival sought to question existing notions of progress through an exploration of issues surrounding political, economic and ethical advance in the West. By acknowledging the uncertainty of the future and its values, do we need to establish new ideas of progress or is such a suggestion inherently flawed?

It was held in Hay-on-Wye and ran between 31 May and 10 June 2012,.[5] The festival staged almost five hundred sessions across the site’s five venues.

Amongst the speakers on the festival’s programme were musician Brian Eno, founder of Glastonbury festival Michael Eavis, literary theorist and critic Terry Eagleton and independent scientist and inventor James Lovelock.[6] Musical highlights included performances from Charlotte Church, Emmy the Great, and Jeffrey Lewis and the Junkyard, as well as a twelve-hour painting marathon from artist Stella Vine to accompany a performance by alternative rock band The Chapman Family.[7]

London's Open Gallery, an institution dedicated to the medium of video painting, also staged a series works by filmmaker Roz Mortimer entitled, ‘Sites of Memory’.

HowTheLightGetsIn 2011 ‘New Gods: Icons and Ideas in a Changed World’

The 2011 festival questioned whether the great narratives that have built and sustained the West are under threat and, if so, what are the new gods that will replace them?

Speakers at the festival included critical theorist Leela Gandhi, Times columnist David Aaronovitch, poet Simon Armitage, New Statesman culture editor Jonathan Derbyshire and screenwriter Jez Butterworth.

Cultural highlights ranged from Ghostpoet, Mount Kimbie and The Correspondents, to comedy and the screening of documentaries from around the world with BBC Four.

HowTheLightGetsIn 2010 ‘Being Human’

The 2010 festival posed the questions: What is it to be alive? What is essential to our humanity and what is peripheral? What is truly important in life?

Author of Politics of Fear Frank Furedi, filmmaker David Bond, author Philip Pullman and Labour politician Jon Cruddas, were amongst the speakers on the line up.

The Open Gallery explored the boundary between the human and the natural. The Wellcome Trust[8] Identity Project presented an exhibition and two days of events on the topic of Identity. Notably, The School of Life[9] hosted a series of philosophy breakfasts with leading thinkers over the 10-day festival.

Radio 1’s Huw Stephens and John Rostron, the duo behind the Sŵn Festival, curated a night of cutting-edge music, which was accompanied by live performances from Johnny Flynn, Cate le Bon and Radio 1’s Bethan Elfyn.

References

  1. ↑ http://iai.tv/
  2. ↑ http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2009/may/22/hay-festival-enlightenment-fringe
  3. ↑ https://howthelightgetsin.iai.tv/iai-school/
  4. ↑ http://www.thefestivalcalendar.co.uk/festivals/How_The_Light_Gets_In_2015
  5. ↑ http://www.howthelightgetsin.org
  6. ↑ http://howthelightgetsin.org/speakers/
  7. ↑ http://howthelightgetsin.org/performers/
  8. ↑ http://www.wellcome.ac.uk/
  9. ↑ http://www.theschooloflife.com/

External links

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