The University will host two days of events exploring blasphemy through comedy and film on Saturday and Sunday 2 and 3 June 2018.
Co-sponsored by the University of Copenhagen and Feminist Dissent the festival on Blasphemy and Freedom of Expression will be held in the Gulbenkian Theatre.
Events include a free screening of comedian Stewart Lee’s film 90s Comedian on Saturday evening and an evening of comedy on Sunday, entitled Stand-Up Blasphemy, compered by Dr Olly Double from the University’s School of Arts, with tickets starting from £5.
Throughout the festival there are also presentations, provocative interventions and panel discussions in Grimond Lecture Theatre 3 from activists, artists, performers, lawyers and journalists which are free to attend and open to all. They include Sticks and Stones, why words still hurt on Saturday and Blasphemy and Comedy on Sunday.
Other contributors include a range of directors, artists and activists, and academics from the University’s School of European Culture and Languages, the School of Arts, the School of English and Kent Law School.
International academics are also taking part including Christa Harris, the director of Inside Pussy Riot (Les Enfants Terribles); Inna Shevchenko (FEMEN); Gurpreet Kaur Bhatti (whose play Behzti was cancelled on its opening night in Birmingham due to violent protests); and film directors including Shakila Maan and Gita Sahgal.