Extremely astute and wisely thought out article John.
You have covered the sad situation of people rushing to judge innocent people who have nothing to do with the results caused by maniacal leaders on both sides .
unfortunately, art, like sport, does not exist in a pristine vacuum. The actions of the two gunmen at Bondi should not undermine the case against Israeli barbarism in Gaza.
Such a delicate and complex world that we live in. Thanks John for looking at it from many perspectives.
On the issue of Creative Australia, no one seems to be happy with it from the art sector across political spectrum. I believe the problem is that of a governance issue. We need an entity that is pressuring the government for adequate funding while making sure that the funds are utilised fairly and where it would make an impact.
It's absolutely a governance issue, but CA only replies to its critics by saying they have "robust processes". They refuse to recognise they have any problems - and neither the government nor the media is holding them to account.
do you think using some form of random selection even just drawing names out of a hat to choose people to sit on these panels would help reduce the evident cronyism etc?
I don't know if there's any solution to the 'peer review' quandary, but I'm sure that if they approached well-credentialed people - artists, academics, curators, etc - rather than inviting opportunists to apply, they'd reduce the flagrant level of corruption.
The best judge would be Plato's philosopher-king, but human nature has rarely produced a suitable candidate. I agree that peer review will always be problematic, but shouldn't be an out & out stitch-up, like it is at present.
Extremely astute and wisely thought out article John.
You have covered the sad situation of people rushing to judge innocent people who have nothing to do with the results caused by maniacal leaders on both sides .
That's the problem - there are not many heroes at the top, but plenty of victims on the ground.
Well said, John.
Thanks Phillip, I feel like I'm ambushed into these columns, but I need to write them.
Excellent, thoughtful and important reflections on a complex time in the world where polarisation of ideas and beliefs has become dangerous.
Thanks Liz, I know Im walking a tightrope.
Re creative Australia etc
Feel that the whole shebang was truly ill founded from the beginning
But
How to make it work better be less a club for the right kind of person- in short be less of an academy
I don’t know
Any constructive ideas ?
unfortunately, art, like sport, does not exist in a pristine vacuum. The actions of the two gunmen at Bondi should not undermine the case against Israeli barbarism in Gaza.
I'm in complete agreement, but the barbarism stems from Netanyahu & his cabinet, not from people gathered for a party at Bondi.
Nor should it undermine the case against Hamas barbarism on October 7
Such a delicate and complex world that we live in. Thanks John for looking at it from many perspectives.
On the issue of Creative Australia, no one seems to be happy with it from the art sector across political spectrum. I believe the problem is that of a governance issue. We need an entity that is pressuring the government for adequate funding while making sure that the funds are utilised fairly and where it would make an impact.
It's absolutely a governance issue, but CA only replies to its critics by saying they have "robust processes". They refuse to recognise they have any problems - and neither the government nor the media is holding them to account.
Regarding
Peer review panels
do you think using some form of random selection even just drawing names out of a hat to choose people to sit on these panels would help reduce the evident cronyism etc?
I don't know if there's any solution to the 'peer review' quandary, but I'm sure that if they approached well-credentialed people - artists, academics, curators, etc - rather than inviting opportunists to apply, they'd reduce the flagrant level of corruption.
Not sure that well credentialed, these days ,would mean in practice anything different to what we currently have ??
PS
Personally viscerally the whole idea of peer review is intrinsically academic and reactionary
The best judge would be Plato's philosopher-king, but human nature has rarely produced a suitable candidate. I agree that peer review will always be problematic, but shouldn't be an out & out stitch-up, like it is at present.