Workshop 5: Bearing witness: a writing workshop
Tracks
Track 2
| Thursday, May 16, 2024 |
| 12:30 PM - 2:30 PM |
| Tāwhirimātea C |
Details
In times of illness, of injustice, of inequity, it’s easy to feel as if there’s nothing we can do. But we can. We can bear witness. Let the words and stories sit with us, let our bodies and minds respond. By meeting people across space and time and mortality, acknowledging their story of being human - we validate their experiences and we change ourselves too. Maybe this is one of the essential functions of medicine, and art. In this two hour workshop, we’ll discuss how we all bear witness to the small and large things, and explore ways we can witness through creative practice. You might even get some ideas for clinical practice! Although this is a writing workshop, creatives working in other mediums are most welcome, at all experience levels.
Note: this workshop is a safe, politically neutral space. However you are welcome to use the exercises to explore any theme or concern you choose
Speaker
Dr Renee Liang
Paediatrician
Locum Paediatrician (everywhere)
Bearing witness: a writing workshop
12:30 PM - 2:30 PMBiography
Dr Renee Liang 梁文蔚 MNZM FRACP is a poet, playwright and essayist of Cantonese heritage. A practising paediatrician, she is Asian Theme Lead on Growing Up In NZ and conducts research into youth health using creative methods at the University of Auckland. As senior NZ artist, Renee explores the migrant experience; she wrote, produced and nationally toured eight plays; makes operas, musicals and community arts programmes; her poems, essays and short stories are studied from primary to tertiary level. The Bone Feeder, a play adapted into opera (AAF 2017), was one of the first Asian mainstage works in NZ and one of the opening works at the Waterfront Theatre.
