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AUSTRALIA

Bullying artists and the art of conversation

  • 17 March 2014

Fingers have been pointed from both sides of the arts sponsorship debate. There are the nine artists who boycotted the Sydney Biennale because it would be accepting money sourced from Transfield's morally repugnant contract to run the Manus Island detention centre. Meanwhile Federal Arts Minister George Brandis and other critics have described the artists as a 'lynch mob', suggesting the board of the Biennale had allowed itself to be 'bullied' by the artists when it decided to reject Transfield funding.

The fiasco has humiliated the much respected Belgiorno-Nettis family, who have been regarded as generous and principled supporters of the arts for many years. Communications Minister Malcolm Turnbull denounced the 'vicious ingratitude' of the boycotting artists and their supporters. Biennale board chair Luca Belgiorno-Nettis tended his resignation and said he and staff members had been 'vilified'.

Belgiorno-Nettis described the protests as 'naive'. Gabrielle de Vietri, the artist leading the Transfield campaign, said other companies profiting from the policy of offshore detention centres would also be scrutinised. Artists know that they need financial support but realise that accepting donor funds implies a certain acceptance in the public eye that common values exist between them and their sponsors. 

It is a fact that supporting the arts gives moral respectability to corporate entities such as banks and mining companies, which often have a reputation for greed and exploiting people and natural resources to improve their own bottom line. Most artists have a well developed sense of moral purpose that is integral to their work, and this can be compromised by their acceptance of funds from sponsors involved in morally dubious activities.

By definition artists are compromising their principles whenever they accept funds from business. Those who believe they can accept sponsorship and remain pure are, as Belgiorno-Nettis says, naive. If we accept this, we can focus on cultivating the best possible relationship between the artists and the sponsors. Crucial to this is the quality of the conversation that takes place between the two parties. 

Sponsors can start out with a preoccupation on how their 'investment' in an artist or arts event can help to improve their bottom line. But conversation with the artists can lead them to consider that their financial 'investment' can contribute to a better world for all by making the moral vision of the artists more far-reaching and sustainable. For their part, the artists can learn from the sponsors how to bring home their message
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