Where are the ridgy-didge artists?
WHO can begrudge the honours showering down on 29 professors
today? Australia Day wouldn’t be Australia Day without a grateful
nation showing its thanks for the lifetime efforts of a battalion
of emeritus, adjunct, associate, full and even reverend
professors.
Nor is today the day for churlish commentary about the 42
researchers, half of them medical, another dozen or so medicos, a
dozen or so bureaucrats and 37 sports folk. All unquestionably
deserve the recognition that has come their way via the Council of
the Order of Australia and the Governor-General.
But reading down the list of 473 notable Australians honoured
this weekend - from Emeritus Professor Denise Irene Bradley’s AC
for “service to higher education through leadership and sector-wide
governance” all the way to Military Division for meritorious
service “in the field of base and operational health support” -
there’s a nagging sense something is missing.
Where are the artists? Is there anything for Cate Blanchett as
she lines up for another Oscar? No, nothing. Or John Mawunrdjul,
the greatest of the bark painters after his recent Paris triumph?
Not a thing. What about Richard Tognetti, the creative genius of
the Australian Chamber Orchestra? Again nothing.
There isn’t a novelist on the 2008 list. This year the nation
could have tackled the backlog of great writers unhonoured by
Yarralumla. But Helen Garner, Peter Carey, Shirley Hazzard, Alex
Miller, Kate Grenville and Tim Winton - among many others - have
still to be recognised by the nation for their services to
literature. Republicans among them may feel now is not the time to
accept such honours, but clearly the business of writing isn’t high
on the list of achievements officially blessed in today’s
Australia.
Though according to the bumpf issued with the 2008 list, 23
awards were made in the category of the arts, closer examination
reveals very few of these distinguished men and women are actually
artists. God bless them for being patrons, collectors,
administrators, board members, fund-raisers, producers, publishers,
gallery owners, researchers, teachers, historians, agents,
therapists, curators, keen amateurs and church organists. But where
are the professional artists?
Only one of real - and quirky - stature is honoured in the list:
Peter Travis, kite maker and sculptor who deserves a place in
thepantheon of great Australians for creating the Speedo.
Otherwise the list has no actors, no directors, no playwrights,
no dancers still dancing, no poets, no screenwriters and no
composers. The professional singers are country and western, which
is fine, but they are the only ones on the list. And it’s the year
for CW with Lee Kernaghan in his big black hat Australian of
the Year.
Yarralumla has not forgotten writing entirely. Definitions of
what is and isn’t a writer can be argued forever. On the list are
historians like Ann Galbally with fine books to their credit, but
the only author who has been out there in the marketplace writing
fiction is Carol Odell (Foote) who will be recalled by a number of
elderly children for her books and television scripts. She deserves
her place, but where are the others?
No one can complain that a couple of teachers with solid but
modest reputations as visual artists have made the list. But where
are the big names?
The list might look like a snapshot of John Howard’s Australia,
but the former PM can’t be blamed. Not directly. Though honours are
awarded in the name of the governor-general, the list is not drawn
up or vetted by cabinet.
The key is organisation. No one gets on the list unless there’s
a claque to push them forward. Regiments of professors earn
initials after their names each year because their institutions
marshal the nominators and referees. They work the system.
Yarralumla answers complaints that, say, lawn bowls and
palaeontology are being neglected by sending back nomination
forms.
Politics shades the picture through the composition of the
Council of the Order of Australia that winnows the nominations each
year. Over the past decade, these 18 men and women have come to
represent a distinctly odd slice of the nation. Howard can’t take
all the blame.
Seven members are nominated by the states and territories. These
days they are all officers of premiers departments or officials
attached to state government houses. Charles Curwen, CVO OBE, old
Harrovian and ex-11th Hussars, has spent the last 30 years serving
- with distinction - the governors of Victoria.
Canberra’s influence in the process comes through the
appointment of the eight “community representatives”. While it
would be churlish to question the distinction they bring to the
task, there might be a case under Rudd for a little more variety in
their experience of life in this subtle country.
The community is, at the moment, represented by a former judge,
a former general, a former Liberal senator, three medicos, an
indigenous magistrate and the wife of the owner of Village
Roadshow. When artists are up for honours, her judgement is
particularly valued. But she is one of 18.
The terms of a number of these “community representatives” are
about to expire. Change is expected at Yarralumla. Next year’s list
may look a little more like the Australia we most admire.
