Being Human Festival 2024
7-16 November 2024
Explore the 2024 festival program below and unleash your humanity!
What does it mean to 'be human?'
Does it lie in our ability to look at our past, and learn from our history, so that we might shape our future? Is it in our capacity to imagine fictional worlds and create works of art that shape our culture? Or is it in the connections we seek with the people around us, to build communities, and come together?
In 2024, the Faculty of Arts is delighted to once again serve as an international hub of the UK's Being Human Festival, presenting a series of activities that explore these questions and offer up unique answers.
This year's theme of 'landmarks' invites us to consider our past, present, and future, as we think about the tension between time and space, and how we, as humans, fit into and affect the world around us.
See Bell Shakespeare actors bring one of the Bard's lesser-known works from the page to the stage in a matter of hours. Explore our city's streets and discover what the walls have to tell us, or what it's like working the night shift.
Go from analogue to AI and discover Melbourne's computing history with a pub games night, see works of art from creators who have come face-to-face with the risks written into their genetic code, or gather together to have one of the hardest and most important conversations you'll ever have, with Death over Dinner.
Discover all of this and more at this year's Being Human Festival and find out how you can unleash your humanity.
2024 festival program
Wednesday
6 November 2024
4:00pm - 5:30pm
Tracing Melancholy: lute works from Dalza to Dowland
Discover Albrecht Durer's Material Renaissance in an experience that brings together sound, space, and the artist's works in a unique event to mark...
Thursday
7 November 2024
6:30pm - 8:45pm
Play In a Day: 'Timon of Athens'
Play In A Day is Bell Shakespeare's lively script reading series celebrating rarely read classics. Actors and director have one day to rehearse as ...
8 November 2024
27 November 2024
DIY Death over dinner
They say nothing is certain except for death and taxes, and just maybe, uncomfortable dinner party chat. If you're not able to attend our in-p...
Friday
8 November 2024
6:00pm - 8:30pm
Death over dinner
They say nothing is certain except for death and taxes, and just maybe, uncomfortable dinner party chat. Join us for a unique dining experience...
Saturday
9 November 2024
10:00am - 12:00pm
If walls could talk | Morning
It's like talking to a brick wall; a one-way conversation that goes nowhere and gives nothing back. As Melburnians, we know better. Join visual...
Saturday
9 November 2024
1:00pm - 3:00pm
If walls could talk | Afternoon
It's like talking to a brick wall; a one-way conversation that goes nowhere and gives nothing back. As Melburnians, we know better. Join visual...
Wednesday
13 November 2024
10:00am - 11:30am
Kimono no-nos: the etiquette of Japanese dress
Do you know your mitake from your kitake? Join cultural heritage and textiles expert Dr Jenny Hall for a rare chance to learn about the customs...
Wednesday
13 November 2024
6:00pm - 9:00pm
Passing the pub test: a tech games night
Goodbye prompt engineer. Hello sticky carpet. We're going back to the golden age of computing with a tech themed games night like no other. Joi...
Thursday
14 November 2024
6:30pm - 8:45pm
'Spring's Decline'
With the best of intentions, what could possibly go wrong? Spring's Decline is a play that transcends time and space, challenging our perceptio...
Saturday
16 November 2024
10:00am - 11:30am
Kimono no-nos: the etiquette of Japanese dress
Do you know your mitake from your kitake? Join cultural heritage and textiles expert Dr Jenny Hall for a rare chance to learn about the customs...
Tuesday
19 November 2024
12:30pm - 1:30pm
'MissPerceived' - live and online
Leah Ruppanner is a no-nonsense sociologist on a mission to dispel society's biggest and most divisive gender myths. In this episode of MissPer...
Tuesday
19 November 2024
4:00pm - 6:00pm
Creative Gene
There's a story written in our genetic code. Around one in 350 Australians carry the BRCA1 or BRCA 2 pathogenic variant, substantially increasi...
Saturday
23 November 2024
8:30pm - 10:00pm
The night shift walking tour
This program is booked out. Join the waitlist here. Dolly famously sang about what it's like to work 9-5, but what happens when the rest of us ...
Monday
25 November 2024
2:00pm - 2:45pm
Discovering the 'Melbourne Gospels' | 2pm
While this session is booked out, tickets are available for the 3pm and 4pm sessions of this program. View other times for this event. ...
Monday
25 November 2024
3:00pm - 3:45pm
Discovering the 'Melbourne Gospels' | 3pm
Please note: registrations for this activity are free but bookings are essential. We read books to understand the thoughts, feelings, and stori...
Monday
25 November 2024
4:00pm - 4:45pm
Discovering the 'Melbourne Gospels' | 4pm
Please note: registrations for this activity are free but bookings are essential. We read books to understand the thoughts, feelings, and stori...
Tuesday
26 November 2024
7:00pm - 8:30pm
The night shift walking tour
This program is booked out. Join the waitlist here. Dolly famously sang about what it's like to work 9-5, but what happens when the rest o...
Wednesday
27 November 2024
6:00pm - 9:00pm
Classics Quiz
Last year you came, you saw, you conquered. You might also have discovered just how much (and sometimes how little!) we have in common with the anc...
22 July 2024
29 November 2024
Albrecht Dürer's Material Renaissance
An exhibition of rare works sourced from the University of Melbourne and State Library Victoria collections. Albrecht Dürer (1471-15...
About the Being Human Festival
The Being Human Festival is the first and only national festival of the humanities in the UK. Founded in 2014, the Festival demonstrates the breadth, diversity and vitality of the humanities, and that research in the humanities is vital for the cultural, intellectual, political and social life. It is a successful large-scale, national public engagement festival taking academic research out into all corners of the community providing refreshing new perspectives on research. It is supported by the School of Advanced Study at the University of London in partnership with the Arts and Humanities Research Council and the British Academy.
❊ Official Tickets ❊
Book Online Here
❊ When ❊
Date/s: Thursday 7th November 2024 - Saturday 16th November 2024
❊ Where ❊
The University of Melbourne View Venue
Parkville Campus, Tin Alley and Professors Walk Parkville Victoria 3010 Map
✆ Venue: 13 MELB (13 6352) | +(61 3) 9035 5511 | Event: 03 8344 4505
❊ Web Links ❊
→ Being Human Festival 2024→ arts.unimelb.edu.au
→ www.beinghumanfestival.org
Disclaimer: Check with the venue (web links) before making plans, travelling or buying tickets.
Accessibility: Contact the venue for accessibility information.
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