Woman and Child First

Art Monthly Australia

There has been a lot of media attention here recently around issues of child images, "corporate paedophilia" and art. Bill Henson's exhibition was shut down in May before it opened due to including images of a naked 13 year old girl.

Art Monthly Australia (July Issue) has just released it's July issue. The cover is shown. It's a current subject of controversy.

The girl's father has defended the whole thing by saying that we are inadvertently encouraging a "higher level of repression" by not embracing this as art. "We have art to liberate the mind.." 

 I agree repression is problematic and that art (can, though no guarantee's) liberate the mind.

The girl's father goes on to say that he has a fear: "That artists will desert the field of childhood...and I think that is going to be a really sad cultural development for this country".

The girl's father is a wanker. The only sad cultural development we have to fear is that this dickhead gets any more media attention. Please someone lock him in a cafe in Darlinghurst for the next 50 years.

This whole defense is really about how "interesting" and "artistic" the girl's father is when he gets in front of a camera, certainly not about the beauty of childhood. The girl herself gets little to no airspace. I hope this link shows you what I mean. Press Conference.

a small but profound luxury

My favourite female author, Isabelle Allende, interviewed by my favourite Australian TV person, Andrew Denton.

I think that when I was around 5 I realised that my mother was a victim and I didn't want to be like her. My mother was a beautiful woman who was victimised by the society. My mother had no rights, no money, no power of any kind and the only way she could get attention was by being very sick. So she was sick all the time. And I wanted to be like my grandfather, I wanted to be in control. I think I was a feminist before the word was invented. By the time I came across feminist books by eh by American or European writers, I realised that there was [noise in background] an articulate way or a language to express all these feelings that I had had for years and years and so I became a raging feminist as a young woman". - Isabelle Allende.

Interesting how those we admire turn out to be, after all this time, quite like ourselves.

Enough Rope June 30 2008

 

It Means I'm 6 foot 2, I'm Intellectual, I'm Bullet Proof.

ANDREW DENTON: You are a Kokoberra woman.

TANIA MAJOR: Yes.

ANDREW DENTON: Grew up in Kowanyama. What does being a Kokoberra woman mean?

TANIA MAJOR: A Kokoberra woman means I’m from Kowanyama in a right Aboriginal community, in Cape York.

ANDREW DENTON: Aha.

TANIA MAJOR: I’m from a particular tribal group. It means I’m six foot two, I’m intellectual, I’m bullet proof.

ANDREW DENTON: Mhm.

TANIA MAJOR: And it means, don’t mess with me Andrew Denton.

LAUGHTER AND APPLAUSE

TANIA MAJOR: Cos I can see on your head.

ANDREW DENTON: I’m not messing with you Tania.

LAUGHTER

- From Enough Rope 26 May 2008

This 26 year-old Young Australian of the Year 2007 is a complete inspiration. In respect to discussions of indigenous people in this country, I can (with relief) say I have never heard so much commonsense, honesty and intelligence come from anyone's mouth as it does from Tania's.

And shit she's funny. Watch the video, it's grand.