All About Women 2022 line-up announced by Sydney Opera House

Sydney – Thursday 16 December, 2021. The Sydney Opera House today announced the inspiring line-up for its annual centrepiece feminist festival All About Women, a vibrant forum for discussions of gender, justice and equality taking place onsite on Saturday 12 and Sunday 13 March 2022 and livestreamed to audiences across Australia and the world. Marking the week of International Women’s Day, the festival will celebrate its 10th anniversary in 2022, with talks, panels, performances, contemporary art and workshops led by an outstanding program of international and Australian artists, thinkers and storytellers.

This year’s festival is co-curated by Sydney Opera House’s recently appointed Head of Talks & Ideas Chip Rolley and First Nations legal academic, broadcaster, filmmaker, writer and Distinguished Professor Larissa Behrendt OA, alongside guest curators for individual events Diana Sayed, Bibi Mossavi, Eliza Hull, Yves Rees and Porcelain Alice. Together, Rolley and Behrendt have assembled an extraordinary line-up of speakers who will pay tribute to the power of disclosure; highlight the courage of advocates who have spoken out; celebrate the rich resource of Eldership in First Nations communities; stage cross-generational conversation, art and performance; and emphasise the need for allyship, friendship and collective responsibility.

Sydney Opera House CEO Louise Herron AM says: “We are thrilled to be announcing the line-up for the 10th All About Women festival, jointly curated by Chip Rolley and Larissa Behrendt. I love the buzz created when people of all ages and views come together at the Opera House, onsite and increasingly online, to hear from leading thinkers, storytellers and game-changers. For the past decade, All About Women has been a vibrant platform for discussing issues that matter to women, and I look forward to celebrating this very special edition of the festival.”

Sydney Opera House Head of Talks & Ideas Chip Rolley says: “It has been an extraordinary privilege to be joined by Larissa Behrendt in the curation of this All About Women, which stands on the shoulders of the Festival’s past ten years, to cast our gaze ahead with agenda-setting conversations, art, performances and workshops offering diverse perspectives from a truly inspiring line-up. We are proud to present a program that seeks to pay tribute to the courage of those who have come forward with personal stories of survival, tenacity and creativity - inspiring us to fight for justice and make a better future for everyone.”

All About Women co-curator Larissa Behrendt OA, says: “I am delighted this year’s All About Women will celebrate, profile and amplify diverse voices with a focus on cross-generational and cross-cultural connections and discussions. The program has a strong respect for the perspectives and knowledge of First Nations women, including Elders, with the aim of making the events accessible to the community.”

The All About Women 2022 line-up includes:

•  One of the strongest voices in American feminism, 

• Roxane Gay, author of several bestselling books including Bad Feminist and Hunger, and writer/actor and Gamilaroi/Torres Strait Islander woman Nakkiah Lui in conversation about their personal experiences of racism and misogyny;
• Current and former Australians of the Year Grace Tame and Rosie Batty, appearing together publicly for the first time to address the opportunities and challenges of the platform, moderated by Jamila Rizvi;
• ABC journalist, essayist, author and 35-year veteran of political reportage Laura Tingle;
• An Opening Night Gala, headlined by poet and contemporary dancer Tishani Doshi’s performance ‘Girls Are Coming Out of the Woods’, also featuring The Mother Wound author Amani Haydar and musician Eliza Hull, with more names to be announced;
• Broadcaster and author of Fight Like A Girl, Boys Will Be Boys and the newly released How We Love, Clementine Ford who will deliver a secular sermon on love;
• Lawyer Michael Bradley, friend Jo Dyer and reporter Samantha Maiden discussing the story of ‘Kate’, who posthumously accused federal MP Christian Porter of sexual assault, moderated by Julia Baird;
• Lawyer and author Bri Lee, writer Lucia Osborne-Crowley, and advocate for sexual assault law reform Saxon Mullins, joining Gamilaroi academic and author of Tell Me Again (due 2022) Amy Thunig, for an exploration of consent;
• Goenpul author of seminal Indigenous feminist text Talkin’ Up to the White Woman Distinguished Professor Aileen Moreton-Robinson in conversation with Larissa Behrendt. Followed by a panel of next generation First Nations voices including Munanjahli and South Sea Islander Professor Chelsea Watego, Darumbal and South Sea Islander academic and podcaster Amy McQuire, and Gomeroi poet and legal researcher Alison Whittaker;
• Eliza Hull, musician and editor of the soon-to-be published anthology of stories by disabled parents, We've Got This, curating and appearing on a panel discussing the everyday of disabled parenting with musician Elly-May Barnes, and artist, psychologist and human rights academic Debra Keenahan;
• Writer, historian and podcaster Yves Rees curating and hosting a provocative panel discussion imagining a future where rigid binaries and gendered expectations no longer exist;
• Porcelain Alice and other leading burlesque performers Demon Derriere and Kelly Ann Doll discussing the art of burlesque as an empowering feminist genre, complemented by performances from each artist;
• An exploration of trailblazing second wave feminist Wendy McCarthy’s remarkable life, achievements, and lessons learned; and
• CEO of the Australian Muslim Women's Centre for Human Rights, Diana Sayed, chairing a panel exploring the fate of women in Afghanistan now the Taliban has taken back control.

Artist Deborah Kelly and collaborators will stage CREATION, a multi-dimensional event in four parts, centred on collective ritual, song and movement. It will invite audiences to participate in a ticketed choral workshop, experience the resulting performance alongside an artist talk, and explore a free visual exhibition on the Western Broadwalk and in the Lounge.

The Opera House and Sweatshop’s collaboration on a mentorship for diverse emerging writers returns for All About Women, inviting women of colour to develop creative writing projects responding to the themes of the festival. For the first time, the writers will also read their work live on-stage in dialogue with Sweatshop Women mentors Winnie Dunn and Randa Abdel-Fattah.

All About Women will also feature interactive workshops:

• Success with Flex – entrepreneur, TV presenter, author and podcaster FlexMami (A.K.A. Lillian Ahenkan) explores her formula for success and how to apply it to live your best life;
   
• Ask An Aunty – four Wiradjuri Elders Aunty Glendra Stubbs, Aunty Norma Ingram, Aunty Millie Ingram and Aunty Bronwyn Penrith will offer life advice on pressing personal issues in this opportunity to discover the rich resource of knowledge sharing across generations in Indigenous communities; and
   
• To Dye For – bespoke textile designer and costume artist Leah Giblin will lead a natural dyeing workshop with a focus on sustainability. 

A Digital Education Stream offers free, on-demand access to three All About Women talks for year 7-12 classrooms across Australia, alongside curriculum-linked teacher resources developed by Sydney Opera House’s pioneering Creative Learning team. Sessions will also be available for broadcast into participating regional venues across the country as part of the All About Women Satellite Program.