Report 2010CMO009 Attachment 1 Office of the Provost and Office of the Vice-President Vice-President (Academic) (External Relations) 2-10 University Hall 3-5 University Hall Edmonton, Alberta, Canada T6G 2J9 Edmonton, Alberta, Canada T6G 2J9 Ph 780-492-3920 Fax 780-492-1438 Ph 780-492-4419 Fax 780-492-9453
FESTIVAL OF IDEAS 2010
Background
The Festival of Ideas The Festival of Ideas was a major highlight of the University of Alberta’s Centenary Celebration. Presented in November 2008 as a partnership with the City of Edmonton, the Festival of Ideas built on the city’s cultural tradition and the university’s intellectual and creative excellence to present an exciting convergence of artists, scientists, philosophers, politicians, activists, and social commentators downtown. The Festival was designed to foster dialogue at a local, provincial, national and international level under the theme Fear and Happiness in the Modern World. Highlights included opening night with award winning author Salman Rushdie, a conversation between Pulitzer Prize-winning environmentalist Edward O. Wilson and the U of A’s Killam Memorial Professor of Ecology David Schindler, Science Saturday for Kids, and a landmark staging of Monteverdi’s opera Orfeo performed with period instruments.
Thanks to the partnership with the City of Edmonton, the inaugural Festival of Ideas brought thousands of people to downtown Edmonton to experience four days of sold-out readings, discussions, debates, films and performances. Media coverage across Canada allowed tens of thousands more to engage with the Festival’s participants. The appetite shared for intellectual discussion with the community far exceeded expectations. The Festival was such a success, and the community feedback was so positive, that the Festival will continue on a biennial basis with the next instalment scheduled to take place November 17-21, 2010.
Festival of Ideas 2010 The second Festival will build on the success of the first by capitalizing on its strong identity and significant community support. It will continue as a multidisciplinary, interactive, engaging and inclusive forum to facilitate cutting-edge creative thinking about the challenges of our time. It will encourage the community to push boundaries, re-assess old habits, challenge taken-for- granted assumptions and engage in communal learning and discovery.
The University of Alberta would like to continue its Festival of Ideas partnership with the City of Edmonton and will be promoting the city provincially, nationally and internationally as well as contributing to the vitality of the city, transforming concert halls, galleries, performing spaces and public buildings into Festival venues and places to meet and interact. The City of Edmonton and University of Alberta share the desire to be leaders in the world and the exchange of ideas is vital to the realization of this goal.
Theme The theme of the 2010 Festival, Truth and Lies: Trust Me, is both broad and provocative. Under the leadership of Festival Executive Director Miki Andrejevic and an advisory board from the University of Alberta, the City of Edmonton and the community, the program will again include performers, writers, visual artists, scientists and public intellectuals who will engage with the public through artistic productions, panel discussions, forums, and family-friendly events. Downtown venues include the Winspear Centre, Shaw Conference Centre, Edmonton Public Library, Citadel Theatre, City Hall and Art Gallery of Alberta.
EXPO 2017 Due to its biennial timeline, the Festival of Ideas fits well with the City of Edmonton’s bid for EXPO 2017. With the primary legacy of the EXPO bid identified as a legacy of knowledge, the Report 2010CMO009 Attachment 1
Page 2 Festival of Ideas has a role to play in the bid process and in the build-up towards 2017. The world-class calibre of performers participating in the 2010 Festival will enhance the University’s ability to amplify Edmonton and Alberta’s promotion of the EXPO, while also contributing to the City of Edmonton’s reputation as a destination for knowledge creation and sharing.
A Legacy of Knowledge The Festival of Ideas advances the U of A’s promise to contribute to “uplifting the whole people” by bringing together the University and the community to create a rich and meaningful experience of learning and discovery. This Festival is unique as it shares with the City of Edmonton and the general public, the U of A and an international contingent of performers, writers, visual artists, scientists, educators, students and intellectuals, bringing them together in the pursuit of knowledge, cultural advancement, learning and discovery.
Audiences During the inaugural Festival, thousands of people – of all ages and walks of life – attended Festival of Ideas events. In addition, people throughout the nation engaged through media coverage of the topics and speakers. Clearly, there is an urgent desire within our community for this shared public sphere of learning, discussion and dialogue. The 2010 Festival goal is to achieve sold-out events again and to engage an even wider audience.
Total attendance of Festival 2008 events was 4,878. Please note that events were sold out and these numbers were essentially capped at this level due to the capacities of specific venues used. Festival 2010 is designed to reach a larger and broader audience than the inaugural Festival. In addition to increasing the use of downtown venues, the Festival is planning to expand its reach by extending the Festival to Camrose and Calgary as well as through video conferencing select performances to remote locations which will be hosted, moderated and branded as Festival of Ideas venues.
Festival of Ideas Website The website is an important component of the Festival of Ideas and is a tool which can also benefit the City of Edmonton as a partner. For the inaugural Festival, the website received 15,209 visitors from more than 70 countries and/or territories (during the period between July 1, 2008 and November 27, 2008). It is expected that the website for Festival of Ideas 2010 will generate significantly more hits and will serve as the main point of contact for queries, information requests, and ticket sales.
Media and Publicity The Festival will be actively promoted in local, regional, national and international media relations activities.
Festival of Ideas 2008 generated positive media interest and coverage. Highlights include:
Newspaper Title Date Description Edmonton Journal U of A will turn 100 in September 4, 2008 Article grand style Edmonton Journal Rushdie candid after October 3, 2008 Article threats against publisher Edmonton Journal Like books? Make a October 31, 2008 Article date with an author… CBC Centre Stage November 6, 2008 Interview with Ellen Hargis, Richard Sparks, Ray Nurse and Miki Andrejevic Report 2010CMO009 Attachment 1
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Edmonton Journal Salman Rushdie – November 7, 2008 Announcement When Worlds Collide Edmonton Journal Salman Rushdie’s November 9, 2008 Interview with Salman double life… Rushdie Edmonton Journal Obama election good November 9, 2008 Interview with Salman for the world, Rushdie Rushdie says… St. Alberta Gazette University promotes November 12, 2008 Interview with Miki Festival of Ideas Andrejevic Edmonton Examiner New Festival to November 12, 2008 Interview with Miki inspire critical thinking Andrejevic Omni News TV Culture Report November 12, 2008 Interview with Miki Andrejevic Vue Weekly Engaging Minds November 13, 2008 Interview with Miki Andrejevic Edmonton Journal U of A festival all November 13, 2008 Interview with Miki about exploring ideas Andrejevic and Ros Sydie CBC Radio Active Program November 13, 2008 Interview with Barbara Coloroso Edmonton Journal Baroque opera a vivid November 14, 2008 Ellen Hargis art form Edmonton Scientists talk November 16, 2008 Review Journal.com environment to capacity crowd Canwest News Scientists fearful November 16, 2008 Review Services politicians don’t get green transformation The Province Prof: people must November 17, 2008 Review green politicians The Daily News Scientists fearful November 17, 2008 Review (Nanaimo) leaders won’t go green Edmonton Journal Mankind expands at November 17, 2008 Review own peril: prof; Eco scientists warn of human-focused planet Edmonton Journal A festival worth November 18, 2008 Editorial repeating Edmonton Journal 400-year-old opera a November 18, 2008 Letters thrill to watch The Gateway Festival of Ideas November 18, 2008 Review celebrates thought in arts and science Edmonton Journal Urban Acupuncturist November 18, 2008 Editorial Board gets right to the point meeting with Jaime Lerner Edmonton Journal Festival of Ideas a November 19, 2008 Letter triumph for U of A Metro Toronto Former child soldiers November 20, 2008 Article reach out to victims CBC Radio Writers and Company December 15, 2008 National broadcast
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Page 4 The Opportunity for Partnership
The University of Alberta is thrilled to be planning the launch of Festival of Ideas 2010. Thanks to the partnership with the City of Edmonton throughout the University of Alberta Centenary and, in particular, the contribution that the City made to the inaugural Festival of Ideas in November 2008, an event was created that Edmontonians welcomed with enthusiasm. Working together afforded the U of A and the City the opportunity to advance the reputation and profile of the City and the University, and to further position the City of Edmonton as the Cultural Capital of Canada.
The Investment At this time, we would like to ask that the City of Edmonton consider partnering again in relation to the Festival of Ideas 2010. To this end, we would like to request that the City provide a one- time financial contribution of $125,000. A contribution of this size would position the City to be the University’s partner throughout the Festival and guarantee the City exposure locally, nationally and internationally in the planned marketing and media relations activities. This investment would also support the continued advancement of the story of the City of Edmonton and the University and how each’s assets complement the other. Together, the University and the City of Edmonton create a destination of choice for education, culture, and quality of life.
The Benefits This partnership would present the City of Edmonton and the University of Alberta with an opportunity to continue to build on the work and collaborative initiatives that resulted from the Centenary partnership. This Festival is designed to bring the University downtown to engage the community locally, provincially, nationally and globally, in order to discuss and reflect upon critical issues of our time, and to promote learning and discovery.
Additionally, the vision and goals of the Festival of Ideas are in alignment with those of The Way Ahead, the City of Edmonton Strategic Plan 2009-2018. For example: The FOI will contribute to the vision of Edmonton as “a city of many cultures, educational opportunities, and all political and social orientations; yet its citizens are inspired by a shared vision and the certainty that this city on a river is one of the most special places on earth.” (The Way Ahead, City of Edmonton Strategic Plan 2009-2018, page 7) The FOI will advance the principles of Livability – specifically in relation to the human capital of the people within a city in all their diversity and potential, together with an urban culture that reflects people’s social values – and Innovation. (The Way Ahead, City of Edmonton Strategic Plan 2009-2018, page 8 and 9)
Edmontonians enthusiastically embraced the inaugural Festival and would eagerly support Festival of Ideas 2010. Following the 2008 event, Edmontonians shared the following statements of support:
“I just wanted to extend a thank you to you and the U of A planning committee: Festival of Ideas, for your wonderful accommodation of our young students at the Edward O. Wilson Lecture. They had front row seats and all were very excited by the lecture and the opportunity to be part of this learning experience. They came away with many ideas that will help them in their research projects.
These experiences help to shape these young minds and your support was appreciated!” Carol Durnford (B.Ed., M.Ed.) Enrichment Coordinator/Teacher St. Mary School, ECSD
“Congratulations on a splendid Orfeo! The lead singers were so nicely balanced in their roles with each other. I of course revel in hearing a new experience and period instrumentation does really Report 2010CMO009 Attachment 1
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add to the piece. Given the reception of Orfeo, I think there is an audience out there for presentation of Baroque works which I hope we will see more of in the future. Thank you for your hard work for bringing this all together”. Dr. Robert Boman
“Congratulations on the success of the Festival of Ideas and the amazing production of Orfeo. Words cannot begin to describe how much I enjoyed Orfeo- it was a night of sheer musical magic” Merle Harris
“Kudos to the U of A for putting on the Festival of Ideas to mark their centenary. We went to the period opera presentation of Claudio Monteverdi's Orfeo and it was a thrilling event. Everybody, including our not-so-opera crowd, was buzzing about it.
We also wanted to see "Architecture, Urban Design, and Happiness"; however, it was sold out. While we were disappointed, we are pleased there was sufficient interest in this city on this topic for the event to sell out.
Congratulations to all who are involved in this festival. I hope it comes around more than just once every 100 years” Sherry Brownlee
Specific Recognition As the University’s partner in Festival of Ideas 2010, the City of Edmonton will be recognized in the following, specific ways: Logo recognition in the Festival Program as a Partner Opportunity for Partner Message in the Festival Program Logo as a Partner on sponsor boards strategically placed at all Festival of Ideas events Logo as a Partner on screens at event venues when not in use by speakers Logo recognition on the Festival of Ideas website as a Partner and link to the City of Edmonton website Logo recognition as a Partner on materials created to promote the Festival of Ideas Logo recognition as a Partner in any major print or television advertising purchased to promote the Festival of Ideas City of Edmonton recognition as a Partner in University of Alberta faculty/staff publication Folio during October 15 – November 15 (circulation of 7,700) City of Edmonton recognition in the October edition of New Trail (circulation of 140,000) City of Edmonton recognition in the September and October edition of e-trail (circulation of 60,000) City of Edmonton recognition in the electronic students and young alumni newsletter, e- tracks (circulation of 30,000) Verbal recognition and thanks from the podium during Festival events 10 tickets for all Festival of Ideas events 10 tickets donated to students on your behalf Invitation to the opening reception
Sponsorship Sponsorship of the Festival is progressing well. At this point in the planning process, the University is pleased to advise that cash sponsorship has been confirmed for a total amount of $239,000 to date. Please note that this includes the commitment of one Founding Sponsor, who has pledged support for 3 Festivals.
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Page 6 2010 FESTIVAL PROJECT BUDGET
The 2010 Festival budget is based on the 2008 Festival of Ideas budget.
The Festival will operate on a cost recovery basis using funds acquired through grants, sponsorship, and donations.
2010 Festival of Ideas Budget May 2010
Expected Revenues Box Office 110,000 Sponsorships and Donations, Grants and Partnerships 570,000
Total 680,000
Expenditures Artistic Fees and Expenditures 320,000 Venue Rental 25,000 Production Staff 15,000 Marketing 35,000 Office Rent and Expenses* 20,000 Staff salaries and benefits** 265,000
Total 680,000
* Office Rent and expenses currently under budget. ** Staff salaries and benefits are for 3 FOI employees (1.75 FTE total) for an 18 month period - currently under budget.
Please note that the financial contribution of the U of A is significant, though not included as a line item in the budget. The planning process of the 2010 Festival of Ideas began in May 2009. From that time until the completion of the Festival in November 2010, it is projected that University of Alberta employees will have contributed approximately two thousand, six hundred and eight business hours towards this project. Factoring in the compensation of the employees working on this project, the hours worked represent an institutional investment of approximately $205,000.
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Page 7 Confirmed Participants for Festival of Ideas 2010
Jared Diamond, the author of the Pulitzer Prize-winning Guns, Germs and Steel and Collapse, is the epitome of the celebrity scientist. He has received some of the world's most prestigious awards, including a MacArthur Genius Grant and the National Medal of Science, America's highest civilian award in science.
His addresses routinely draw thousands of rapt listeners who walk away with a deeper and more nuanced view of the development of human civilization. Diamond's lectures tackle the giant questions. Why do some societies thrive and prosper, while others shrivel and die? How can big business save the planet, or how can humanity maximize the opportunity for human happiness, while saving the planet from ecological ruin and collapse?
Edward Burtynsky is known as one of Canada's most respected photographers. His remarkable photographic depictions of global industrial landscapes are included in the collections of over fifty major museums around the world, including the National Gallery of Canada, the Bibliotèque Nationale in Paris, the Museum of Modern Art and the Guggenheim Museum in New York.
Mr. Burtynsky’s distinctions include the TED Prize, The Outreach Award at the Rencontres d’Arles, The Flying Elephant Fellowship, Applied Arts Magazine book awards, and the Roloff Beny Book award. In 2006 he was awarded the title of Officer of the Order of Canada and was given an honorary degree, Doctor of Laws, from Queen’s University. His exhibition, Oil, a decade of photographic work, chronicles the production, distribution, and use of the most critical fuel of our time will be featured at the Art Gallery of Alberta.
Tim Flannery’s international best-seller, The Weather Makers, has galvanized the public to fight global climate change. It has sold a million copies and has been called one of the most important books of the young century. Flannery has started, and continues to lead, one of the most important global conversations of our time. In the process, he has revealed humankind's capacity for ingenuity and hope.
A renowned scientist, Tim Flannery was director of the South Australia Museum, and has taught at both the University of Adelaide and Harvard. In 2007, Flannery was named Australian of the Year. More recently Flannery was Chairman of the Copenhagen Climate Council 2009.
David Schindler is Killam Memorial Professor of Ecology at the University of Alberta. From 1968 to 1989, he founded and directed the Experimental Lakes Project of the Canadian Department of Fisheries and Oceans near Kenora, Ontario, conducting interdisciplinary research on the effects of eutrophication, acid rain, radioactive elements and climate change on boreal ecosystems. His work has been widely used in formulating ecologically sound management policy in Canada, the USA and in Europe.
Dr. Schindler teaches limnology, the philosophy, sociology and politics of science/science and public policy in Canada, and environmental decision making.
Ernesto Cardenal is widely recognized as the most important living Latin American poet, Nobel Prize Nominee, Roman Catholic priest, former Minister of Culture in Nicaragua (1979-88), co- founder and honorary president of the international cultural centre Casa de los Tres Mundos, a literary and cultural organization based in Granada, Nicaragua. His work has been translated into more than twenty languages.
Derek Walcott, Nobel Prize Laureate and one of the world's most prolific playwrights and poets originally from St. Lucia, has written more than 30 plays and 20 poetry collections during a Report 2010CMO009 Attachment 1
Page 8 career that started when he published his first poem at age 14. Derek Walcott joined the University of Alberta last fall, beginning a three-year term as the inaugural Distinguished Scholar in Residence.
Baba Brinkman is a Vancouver born writer, poet and freestyle rapper. Master’s in Medieval Literature, his rap version of the Canterbury Tales, has been recorded and in 2005 the English department at Cambridge University sponsored his tour of secondary high schools to introduce students to Chaucer through the medium of hip-hop culture. Recently the “Welcome Trust”, the largest charity in the UK, has approved his project to create a series of professional music videos for the Rap Guide to Evolution CD which will be used in Biology classrooms around the world to provide an accessible introduction to evolutionary theory.
Frog Lake 125 Anniversary - Stage Reading Play THE PLAY: During the turbulent events of the North-West Resistance in 1885, Wandering Spirit, Cree war chief, and his hostage, 16-year-old Mixed-Blood Eliza McLean, are thrown together in a vortex of violence, he to be hanged, she to disappear from history.
Playwright, Myrna Kostash is a Canadian non-fiction writer and award-winning author of several books, including Bloodlines: A Journey into Eastern Europe, All of Baba's Children and the forthcoming The Doomed Bridegroom. She has published numerous articles in cultural and literary magazines and was the Chair of the Writers' Union of Canada from 1993 to 1994. She lives in Edmonton, Alberta.
Dramaturge and Director, Vern Thiessen is one of Canada’s most produced playwrights. He has written for stage, radio and television. His stage plays have been seen across Canada, the U.S. and Europe, including Shakespeare’s Will, Apple, Einstein’s Gift, Blowfish, and The Resurrection of John Frum. Thiessen has been the recipient of numerous awards, including the University of Alberta Alumni Award for Excellence, and the Governor General’s Literary Award for Drama, Canada’s highest honor for playwriting. Thiessen is a graduate of both the University of Winnipeg and the University of Alberta, where he received his MFA in Playwriting.
The Reverend José Gabriel Funes is head of the Vatican Observatory and a scientific adviser to Pope Benedict XVI. He completed his masters' degree in astronomy (licenciado en astronomia) at the National University of Cordoba and obtained his doctorate in astronomy at the University of Padua with the study of the kinematics of the ionized gas in the inner regions of 25 disk galaxies.
Dr. Funes entered the Society of Jesus in 1985, obtaining a bachelor's degree in philosophy in 1990 at the Universidad del Salvador in San Miguel, Argentina. In the same university he attained the master in philosophy (licenciado en filosofia). After completing the bachelor's degree in theology at the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome, he was ordained to the priesthood. He joined the Vatican Observatory Research Group as staff astronomer in March 2000, and he was appointed Director of the Vatican Observatory in August 2006.
Lately the Reverend Funes has been fostering dialogues between “men of science and men of God” about the origin of life and its existence in the cosmos.
Neil Comins is a professor of physics and astronomy at the University of Maine and author of popular scientific books, articles and textbooks. He earned a Bachelor of Science degree from Cornell and a PhD in astrophysics from University College, Cardiff, and Wales. A faculty member of the University of Maine since 1978, Comins has several areas of astronomical research: Observational astronomy using optical telescopes in Arizona and the VLA radio Report 2010CMO009 Attachment 1
Page 9 telescope in New Mexico, Computer models of galaxies like our Milky Way, General relativity, and Astronomy education.
His writing career began around 1980. He wrote 14 articles for Astronomy magazine. His first book, What if the Moon Didn’t Exist? was published in 1993.
David Sedaris is a world renowned humor writer. The great skill with which he slices through political correctness proves that Sedaris is a master of satire and one of the most observant writers addressing the human condition today.
He and his sister, Amy Sedaris, have collaborated under the name “The Talent Family” and have written half-a-dozen plays which have been produced at La Mama, Lincoln Center, and The Drama Department in New York City. These plays include Stump the Host, Stitches, One Woman Shoe, which received an Obie Award, Incident at Cobbler’s Knob, and The Book of Liz, which was published in book form by Dramatists Play Service. David Sedaris has been nominated for three Grammy Awards for Best Spoken Word and Best Comedy Album. His latest audio recording of new stories (recorded live) is “David Sedaris: Live for Your Listening Pleasure” (November 2009).
His newest book, Fables (with illustrations by Ian Falconer) is due fall 2010.
LA BELLE DANSE. Montreal based Les Jardins Chorégraphiques accompanied by baroque Ensemble Maques will perform baroque dances related to Louis XIV era with costumes and sets. The first half of the program features court dances choreographed by eighteenth-century dancing-masters such as Feuillet, Pécour and L’Abbée. The performance will also have theatrical dances from the comédies-ballets of Molière put in music by Jean-Baptiste Lully and Marc-Antoine Charpentier: Le Bourgeois Gentillhomme and Le Malade Imaginaire. The second half of the program will feature extracts from Le Ballet des Sept Planètes (Ballet of the Seven Planets) of Lully.
Orhan Pamuk is a Turkish novelist. He is also the Robert Yik-Fong Tam Professor in the Humanities at Columbia University, where he teaches comparative literature and writing. One of Turkey's most prominent novelists, his work has sold over seven million books in more than fifty languages, making him the country's best-selling writer. Pamuk is the recipient of numerous literary awards, including the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2006 – the first Nobel Prize to be awarded to a Turkish citizen.
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2010 FESTIVAL OF IDEAS DRAFT PROGRAM
Time Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday Sunday November , 17 November, 18 November, 19 November 20 November, 21 9:00 a.m. Lecture – Jared “Creative Kids” Diamond U of A Campus Myer Horowitz 11:00 a.m. “Why Science and Faith Matter to Each Other” – Father Funes Faith and Life Chapel, Augustana Campus 12:00 Lecture on Vern Thiessen NOON Water – Tim U of A Calgary Centre Flannery and David Schindler The Rap Guide to Myer Horowitz Evolution – Baba Theatre Brinkman City Hall 1:00 pm Public Reading by Mende Nazer Ernesto Cardenal “SLAVE” Stage City Hall Reading and Q&A Edmonton Public Library 3:30 p.m. The Rap of Canterbury Tales – Baba Brinkman U of A Main Campus 5:30 p.m. “Astrobiology – Are Frog Lake 125th An We Alone in the Anniversary Evening Universe?” – Father Stage Reading with David Funes and Neil Play – Vern Sedaris Comins Thiessen and Winspear Telus World of Myrna Kostash Centre Science Edmonton Public Library 7:30 pm “Oil and Water La Belle Danse – “Nobel Night in Beyond Baroque Ballet Canada” with Debate?” – Tim featuring Les Jardins Orhan Pamuk, Flannery, Chorégraphiques Derek Walcott Edward dance group and The and Ernesto Burtynsky and Masque Baroque Cardenal Tom Siddon Ensemble Shoctor Theatre (Partnership Shoctor Theatre with AGA) Shoctor Theatre 8:00 pm FOI Opening with Jared Diamond Winspear Centre
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