Perth’s international empathy festival

A theme of empathy and understanding runs through the 2016 Perth International Arts Festival program.
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Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui’s Apocrifu. Photo by Herman Sorgeloos.

Works which encourage and celebrate an understanding of difference have emerged as a key theme of Artistic Director Wendy Martin’s first Perth International Arts Festival (PIAF) program.

From A Mile in My Shoes, which invites audiences to literally walk a mile in the shoes of fellow Perth residents while listening to recordings of their life stories, and Belgian choreographer Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui’s Apocrifu, which uses circus arts and classical and contemporary dance to explore the power of words and how they can divide us, to the opening address at Perth Writers Festival by Roman Krznaric, author of Empathy: A Handbook for Evolution, an empathic thread runs throughout the festival.

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Richard Watts is ArtsHub's National Performing Arts Editor; he also presents the weekly program SmartArts on Three Triple R FM, and serves as the Chair of La Mama Theatre's volunteer Committee of Management. Richard is a life member of the Melbourne Queer Film Festival, and was awarded the status of Melbourne Fringe Living Legend in 2017. In 2020 he was awarded the Sidney Myer Performing Arts Awards' Facilitator's Prize. Most recently, Richard was presented with a Lifetime Achievement Award by the Green Room Awards Association in June 2021. Follow him on Twitter: @richardthewatts