Festival Focus: Perth International Arts Festival

Spanning across music, theatre, writing, film, dance and art, PIAF is offering a range so expansive it would be impossible to catch everything. Here's a few showcases that you can't afford to miss.

Home - Langley Park, February 13

2016 opening event Home brings together some of WA's most renowned artists for a celebration of culture, community and landscape. The spectacle aims to reflect on the significance of the Australian landscape and the concept of 'Home', and what it means to the performance artists, from the coastline, to the suburbs, and the bush. With that in mind, the event will see performances from Grace Barbe, John Butler, The Drones, Guy Ghouse, Gina Williams, The Panics, The Triffids and more.

Waxahatchee - Chevron Festival Gardens, February 16

A commanding vocalist with a keen interest in angsty, lo-fi acoustic sounds, Alabama's Katie Crutchfield - aka Waxahatchee - has charmed listeners with frank, confident and memorable songwriting, and will be bringing songs from her new third album, Ivy Tripp, to Chevron Festival Gardens in February.

Art & Motion - Astor Theatre, February 16

Art & Motion turns the spotlight on skating, with Albany's notorious downhill skate park The Snake Run - the world's oldest community-funded skate park, too - celebrating the 40th anniversary of its opening. Russ Howell, a skating legend who first rode its winding curves, returns to Australia for the event to share his passion for skateboarding and speaks alongside fellow fanatic Shaun Gladwell, for a discussion on the mechanics and evolutions of riding a board. Best of all, this event is free.

The Tiger Lillies Perform Hamlet - Regal Theatre, February 17 - 21

You've never seen Hamlet performed like this. British musical trio The Tiger Lillies will be bringing their punk cabaret style to Shakespeare’s classic tale, incorporating actors, circus acts and giant puppets to transform this iconic tragedy into a display of musical and visual fireworks, 'opera grotesque' style.

Roman Krznaric - Octagon Theatre, UWA, February 18

Cultural thinker and founder of The Empathy Museum, Roman Krznaric is an internationally recognised expert on empathy - he advises organisations, as well as Britain’s top judges, on using empathy and conversation to create social change. With his book Empathy, Krznaric will use his opening address at PIAF's Writers Festival to propose that empathy has the power both to transform our own lives and to bring about fundamental social change.

Richard Dawkins - Perth Concert Hall, February 22

Yep, you read that right - the hugely acclaimed ethnologist, biologist and writer Richard Dawkins is considered one of the most influential thinkers of our time thanks to his infectious sense of wonder, and will be appearing at PIAF as part of the Writers Festival to reflect on a lifetime of scientific adventure and to discuss his new memoir Brief Candle In The Dark: My Life In Science.

Sleater-Kinney - Chevron Festival Gardens, March 2

Sleater-Kinney revived an entire genre in the ‘90s with their edgy, unapologetic, good old fashioned rock and roll. In 2001, they were named by Time magazine as the 'best rock band in America'. After breaking up for almost a decade, the trio are back in business with their album No Cities To Love, released in January, and sound as solid as ever.

Originally published in X-Press Magazine