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There’s a problem in Australia, with regard to Europe. It’s not just the media, although we’re certainly among the biggest culprits. The pervasive attitude, in Australia, is that Europe is a history subject. Europe represents the past … Asia is the future … we’ve got Europe under control. So, we can tick the European box and move on.
In a world of global ambitions and amorphous regions, Europe has become emblematic of the struggle between the need for collective cooperation and the fear of becoming lost in a vast, culturally homogenous mass. And in the current crisis of confidence about the future of the European ‘project’, one country sits as a symbol of all the tension and all the uncertainty.
What role do artists and intellectuals play in the debate over displaced peoples? Cultural theorist Nikos Papastergiadis and artist and performer David Pledger have been trying to figure this out for many years. Both Nikos and David approach the subject of refugees, and our collective response to the ongoing drama, from different sides. But the questions they ask are very similar.
It’s been 30 years since one of Australia’s first major post-war cultural buildings, the National Gallery of Victoria, gained a sympathetic neighbour—the Melbourne Concert Hall—which was built in 1982. This pairing of institutions marked the start of what was to become known as Melbourne’s arts precinct. But why do cities love to plonk so many of their large cultural building in one area?
There’s an old tradition in parts of rural Australia of the ‘Twig’ or ‘Twiggy’—suddenly deciding, on a whim, to stop by the side of the road, light a camp-fire with some friends and sit around for a chat, or to play music. Now the idea’s being revived, as a series of artist-in-residence events on farms along the Victorian/NSW border.