It's been a mad few weeks for Arts Journo. Since taking on an editorial role at Arts Hub, I find myself doing so much writing, writing, writing, writing (yes, welcome to full-blown journalism indeed) that the blog is suffering, suffering, suffering.
However, it is absolutely marvellous and the scope of news I cover has just blown out from Sydney theatre and arts to news from all corners of the country and internationally as well.
Each day I receive a good fifty or so press releases of events happening all over the shop. What is most interesting is seeing where the press releases come from. Substantially, the majority are from Melbourne and Sydney, but there is now a huge amount that come in each day from Brisbane as well as regional areas of eastern states.
There is a decent amount that comes in from Darwin and Adelaide but very little from Tasmania and barely anything from Perth - which I don't quite understand.
On top of this, I am reviewing more and more for The Daily Telegraph which is due to put its arts coverage online pretty soon. It's actually a very challenging gig. Trying to get the tone just right and ensuring that I don't assume too much, as I would if I reviewed for the blog.... not to mention that word count factor and photo sub-editor issues.
And then there is the fact that the editorial section of the paper seems to be going on a bit of a rampage against the arts as a whole. The opinion editor, Tim Blair, is particularly fond of waging war on the arts as you can see from this article and this article. In his business, the arts are a pretty easy target, especially when using phrases such as 'your money'. But Blair this time even manages to shoot two birds with one stone - the under resourced health system and the arts.
"While unimaginative types see an ambulance gridlock as just another example of the state's useless healthcare system," Blair says, "my highly refined creative sensibilities allowed me to perceive the same scene as art."
He goes on, "The interplay between ambulance-hoppers and frustrated RNS nurses possibly recalled the works of Samuel Beckett. Post-modernist types would truly have grooved on the simultaneous immobility of patients, ambulances and the NSW health department alike."
(More Jo Stromgren than Beckett, but hey, what's the difference???)
And then he states that, "in the wake of this week's static on-site hospital performance, NSW Health Minister Reba Meagher blamed 'significant' underfunding by the Federal Government. Well, if money is the problem, here's at least a partial solution: the health system should apply for an Arts NSW cultural grant."
His tirade against the harmless regional touring Circus Monoxide is particularly perplexing. (And it isn't the first time either that he has taken aim against the clowns, as you can see here and here.) I have a sneaking suspicion that our friend Mr Blair might have had a terrible childhood incident and now suffers from coulrophobia. Hopefully with all this great touring by Circus Monoxide all those kids in regional towns who love the circus and the clowns won't suffer the same fate as Blair.
But from his excellent idea of a performance piece with ambulances and patients waiting, I think we might have a budding choreographer on our hands. Maybe there is a frustrated artist under that right-wing cloak of his. Indeed, if he could take that extra step and put together his two pet hates - the health system and clowns - he could really be onto something!
But thankfully the Sydney Morning Herald has been keeping tabs on the bizarre opinion pieces in the Telegraph and printing some good comeback journalism.
And just to remind you all - the forum on Lee Lewis' essay on cross-racial casting is in Sydney this weekend. To tantalise you, here is an extract of the essay that we published on Arts Hub today. Word has it that one of the companies mentioned in the essay are very angry with the essay and refuse to engage with the debate.
Bring it on, I reckon.
Wednesday, 1 August 2007
Clowns, ambulances and right-wing creativity
Posted by Nicholas Pickard at 8:49 pm
Labels: Arts Journalism, Circus, General Comment
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21 comments:
My suspicion is that people like Tim Blair and Andrew Bolt nursed artistic ambitions in their youth and now take out their frustrations and disappointments on anyone who actually dared to embrace their vocation. Their portraits of artists as fat cats sucking the public pap are bizarre. And as everyone who practises the arts knows, or even those familiar with the figures on artist's income, highly inaccurate. I guess artists, like persons with brown skin, make good scapegoats for those simmering with inarticulate resentment, disappointment and general joylessness. And as every propagandist knows, you have to have a scapegoat, like a kind of valve. Sigh.
You are a brave man Nicholas to criticise your employer at the Telegraph, but thank God you do. Their hatred of the arts and arts funding is scary--and has become a lot worse since Penberthy took the reins. I have read extraordinary untruths written about film project funding in that paper simply to stir up right-wing fury. It is a terrifying culture of aggressive philistine-ism and applauded by their audio henchmen like Jones and Price. And people wonder why artists get out of this country as fast as they can?
Thanks for the compliment anonymous. But who else to criticise the paper than the one that writes theatre reviews for them?
However, I think I might have to (partly) defend Jones on this one. His advocacy for theatre - or more particularly musical theatre and classical music is passionate and influential.
Not only does he defend the musical theatre industry on air, but he puts his money where his mouth is and throws money at them like there's no tomorrow.
Yes Jones supports commercial musicals but he has jumped on the bandwagon of attacking FFC film funding and arts funding in general as he knows it taps into the dark heart of Australian prejudice. Let's call it like it is--bashing the arts is a way of beating up all the people that they can no longer publicly bash--gays, the indigenous, fringe cultures-- because theatre and the arts in general embraces all of them. This is bigotry, pure and simple, and the Telegraph revels in it.As someone who has been the target of one of these witch hunts, I am forced to remain anonymous...
The Daily Telegraph and Arts Hub. Two things I don't read. So while your blog "suffers", so too do the devoted readers who visit daily for their artsjournalist fix. I hope you don't intend to make writing for the Tele and the Hub your life's work.
Write more. Not less.
I am sorry to hear anonymous that you have been the target of their arts insecurities.
Talking with some industry the other night about what Blair had said, there was a consensus that it is just so hard to engage with them on any debate.
And most of the time it's not even worth your while - their point of view is just so bizarre.
One of the interesting things to come from the forum the other week at the Sydney Town Hall was when Fergus Linehan expressed bemusement at how the arts and arts advocats always apologise for arts funding - whether it be through statistical reports to show how many families/children blah blah blah will see it and what benefit it will have.
In that sense, there is no point in engaging with Blair et al, as you find yourself justifying arts funding on a level that is frankly ridiculous.
And - thanks Geoffrey... maybe it's a case of 'arts journalist' becomes 'hack arts journalist'???
What Blair needs to do is sit down with a hard-headed capitalist like Joern Hoffman, the CEO of Audi. I heard him speak at the Drama Theatre on the opening night of "Season at Sarsaparilla", where he expressed his amazement, as a European, that almost no one in the government or corproate sector in this country seemed to understand the vital importance of funding the arts. He hadn't been here ten minutes before he leapt at the chance to sponsor the Actors Company at STC, seeing it as a great way of promoting his company and embedding themselves in the artistic community. If the Actors Co win any awards at the Helpmanns Monday night, it can only reflect well on Audi. When the film, dance, theatre and music of Australia are far andaway the best international ambassadors the country has, why is there such resistance on the part of the right wing press (and state and federal governments) to support them? Is it just infantile provincialism, or a deep hatred of anything that intimates culture and sophistication?
I just read with great interest the thread on Lee Lewis's essay on cross-racial casting - and those on Alison Croggan's and the Mink Tail blogs. The one on this site seems to have ended abruptly two weeks ago with everyopne promising to read the essay and get back to us! Have I missed another thread?
Hi John,
I am not sure where the debate fizzled out to. I did a follow up article about the talk in Sydney, with very little response on the blog (probably because there were only 40 there!)
Did you manage to attend
any of the forums?
Well Nicholas, as interesting as the topic was, I think Ms Lewis has shot herself in the foot by launching broadside attacks without offering any constructive alternatives. As that scathing review of her paper in last Saturday's SMH pointed out, to baldly declare that it is the function of theatre to right social wrongs is a dubious contention at best, and if she's going to make it she better be prepared to back it up. I do however admire her chutspa with her (perhaps suicidal) decision to offend every theatre company of influence in Sydney if not the country. Perhaps she feels John Bell, Neil Armfield, Robyn Nevin and Simon Phillips are all neophytes who have much to learn from her...somehow I don't think they'll be ringing for advice...
I couldn't disagree with you more anonymous. Firstly, there is no evidence, anecdotal or otherwise to suggest that Lee has "shot herself in the foot".
And to be honest, that old attitude of 'put up and shut up' is, I truly hope, on its way out. Lee saw something she disagreed with and made a statement about it and the discussions that have come about because of her conviction have been wonderfully constructive, open and embraced the industry as a whole. What a breath of fresh air, anonymous.
I also totally disagree with the assertion that Lee has said that the function of theatre is to 'right social wrongs'. Having read the essay, I am intrigued as to where Lee actually said that.
In fact, I would suggest that Lee has said the opposite - that Australian society is already engaged fully with multiculturalism and isn't it about time we started seeing that reflected on our stages.
And thirdly, I would also disagree that it was chutspa that made her speak out. I suppose that the only reason you would say 'chutspa' is because so many within the industry are so acquiescent to everything that John, Neil, Robyn and Simon do. That is an unhealthy situation where any criticism (and criticism is not a bad thing - or is it?) is seen as offence. Now - that is probably the saddest element of what you have said anonymous.
Anon, you don't seem to have read the same paper I did. It isn't a "broadside" and she does offer alternatives. Nor, as Nicholas points out, does she claim that theatre is there to right social ills. Maybe invest in a copy and check out what Ms Lewis does say.
Yet another anonymous... a shame, really. The beauty of the majority of blogs in the theatrosphere is that most of their authors put their names to their thoughts unflinchingly. The etiquette would then follow that if commenters were generally unafraid or had any sense of sovereignty of their arguments, then they would feel no need to pelt firebombs from behind night's shade. They'd come out into the broad daylight and put their name to each and every one that they lobbed.
Nicholas has already written in response to your comments, much of what I, myself would say. However, I would just like to underline the articulation that:
CRITICISM IS NOT A BAD THING. For starters. Would we ever learn, grow, change, or develop new ways of thinking if not for our old mate, CRITICISM?
And a big Besides Which is that, return, if you would, to Lee Lewis' paper, and you might just realise that what she is NOT doing is pointing the finger and apportioning blame. What she IS doing is using examples of practice that could have been executed differently.
By all means, anonymous, disagree with Lewis' argument (but read the essay and back your disagreement up with research, clarity and empathy) However, essentially, I'm most troubled by the fact that a person such as yourself sees fit to criticise the critic FOR THE VERY ACT OF voicing their passionate opinions articulately and in the public arena, and yet you do so on someone else's blog, and from behind the dark glasses of anonymity. Woeful, really.
I wonder what the world would be like if we all kept our traps shut and went along with the status quo... It could be very peaceful, couldn't it? But I bet it would be filled with bigotry of every form, political tyrrany, and whoopsie: no art. Unless you count those lovely propaganda pieces on tv.
Silence is deadly.
An interesting point that was made on Alison's blog by Steve Reynolds says:
"Interesting, too, that the uninformed enraged comment on Nicholas’s blog cites a reviewer who seems not to have read the paper either.
Apart from mistaking Lee for a male, Bruce Elder's ludicrous conclusion that she "doesn't seem to offer any plausible explanation or solution" beggars belief.
You really have to wonder what reviewers like this are being paid for."
Indeed.
That last comment is complete and utter bullshit. As someone who has been around Lewis' last two ventures, I know for a fact she has received nothing but full support from everyone. Wouldn't the fact that she was handed four jobs by the "theatre personality", including two very prestigious directing gigs for the mainstage and PUSH be an indication of that? Whoever is spreading this sort of malicious misinformation is certainly not dong Lewis any favours.
I think that you are absolutely right veritas... it is just malicious gossip.
I am going to do the extra-ordinary and delete it.
Nicholas - the one thing I really really disagree with in all these discussions is allowing someone to hide behind "Anonymous" and shoot his or her mouth off from that dubious protection. If you don't have the guts to sign your name, you shouldn't be given the time of day, never mind taking up valuable time and space.
I have to admit Diana, that I am getting a little sick of the anonymous comments as well.
People seem to be using it to post non-sensical posts that are, most of the time, ill-informed.
The reason, however, that I have that option is because I am aware how small the industry is and there is a fear out there with many actors, directors and producers to not criticise - lest they don't get 'the job'.
I want these important people to have a forum to air their grievances without retribution from the powers that be.
On that basis, I am compelled to leave the option there.
Thank you Nicholas. For those of us who love theatre, and celebrate all successes and wish to see Australian theatre in all its forms progress and flourish, a blog like this shouldn't become the rubbish tip of the bitter and the jealous. By the way, will you be reviewing Ed Dick's production of the "Dream"? I saw a preview, but look forward to reading the remarks of people such a s yourself, Diana Simmonds and Alison Croggan.
I am not sure whether I will be going to Dream... I think Gary Smith reviewed it for the DT so I will probably not get to go and see it.
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