American activist and Time's 2017 Person Of The Year, #MeToo founder Tarana Burke will be joined by one of the icons of punk-rock, now a radio host, activist and actor Henry Rollins who will each present keynote presentations at 2021 BIGSOUND.
Now in its 20th year, BIGSOUND continues to be a platform for the important conversations about the biggest issues facing music in these volatile and testing times."I'm looking forward to sharing my story at BIGSOUND," Tarana says, "in what has been a 25-year journey laying the groundwork for a movement that amplifies the voices of millions of survivors and addresses issues of respect, dignity, and power dynamics in schools, workplaces, communities, and politics."
Set for three days of 'music discovery, connection' and the opportunity for media, A&R, agents, promoters, music supervisors, buyers and more to network, reconnect and impart stories of the past 12 months, BIGSOUND will take place 7-9 September.
"It's an absolute honour to have the calibre of talent in Tarana Burke and Henry Rollins to bring their powerful insight to BIGSOUND for what will be an important piece of the puzzle as the industry grapples with the big issues to progress real, positive change," QMusic CEO, Kris Stewart says.
This year's BIGSOUND also sees the return of biennial youth conference Little BLAKSOUND (6 September), which is presented by Digi Youth Arts (Queensland's only Indigenous youth arts organisation) and QMusic.
BIGSOUND First Nations Programmer and Producer, Alethea Beetson will mentor Little BLAKSOUND co-curators Sycco, Jem Cassar-Daley, DOBBY, and Loki Liddle in a programme that will elevate, celebrate and represent the voices and perspectives of current and up-and-coming First Nations artists and industry workers.
Early-bird BIGSOUND conference passes are now on sale, but this year's passes are limited due to COVID capacity.
