Artists are from the Left?

Was having a catch up with some friends in the arts circle the other day. Usually we just talk about arts and nothing else. However with all the recent developments in Australian politics we inevitably touched on the subject and surprisingly we had pretty distinctive views about a number of issues. We pulled up experience and facts and debated. And then we suddenly noticed that this is the first time we had such distinct views about certain things and could not reach a common ground.

However, there was one thing that we all agreed on – the relentless attack on the arts sector by the government. From a broken promise of enormous $254 million cuts to ABC and SBS to the not too many people mentioned $30 million cuts to the Australia Council. One of my friends pointed out that the Coalition government hated ABC because “it was run by a bunch of lefties” that relentlessly criticises the government. But then I said there was a report sometime last year or early this year indicating that ABC’s criticism to the government is not biased as both the Labor and Coalition governments received similar shares of scrutinies by ABC’s programming. I further pointed out that it could be an impression the Coalition government was trying to build by repeatedly criticising ABC publicly as I did not recall the Labor government doing so during their terms. I said what the agenda behind this is something behind their party doors but certainly my impression was that the Coalition government was trying to create a false impression about ABC “left-wingness”.

Then our discussion went on to about the left wing sentiments of artists. For me I personally feel that artists are not necessarily left wing. I would never consider myself as left wing because I simply am not. However artists tend to be more independent thinking and tend to question status quo more. That is something that comes with the artistic quality – it is something important to continue to shape and evolve our culture and society. I can’t say for other people, but since I was little I questioned about things that I do not think make sense to me and sometimes I express this through my drawing, writing or other artistic channels. It is that kind of questioning and continued scrutiny of the world around them that artists are so important for a society to grow. Without that art is nothing but some token brushes on a canvas or some standard structure on a music score that offers not a lot of values to the society and culture they reside in.

So for me an attack on arts is not an attack on the lefties but an attack on the society. For me I am angry and upset about all these cuts because I see it as a way this government trying to suppress free speech and expression while at the same time trying to change the racial law about bigotry under the same pretence of free speech and expression – it is irresponsibly hypocritical. For me it looks like an act of curbing the society’s ability to think independently so they could create a “harmonious” society that will only say yes to the government without questioning whether it is for the better of the society or for the better of the politicians and their cohort of friends. It is a class war waged without much class.

I cannot say for all other art forms but as a theatre graduate and practitioner, looking at the theatrical literatures in Australia, you can distinctively identify the periods, history, school of thoughts and not to mention the creativity of these writers. They could be either writing in response to the society and world they were living in or they could be writing simply via the manifestation of their imagination and experience. But most of them provide point of views. Some of them challenged the tokenism in their societies. Extraordinary pieces like Radiance, The Doll Trilogy, Don’s Party, Keating, Seven Stages of Grieving and When the Rain Stops Falling will not exist if the writers were not encouraged to be independent thinking and to question about the norm. And for this I am not saying questioning for the sake of questioning but questioning with an inquisitive mind that try to make sense when things do not make sense.

If the Coalition government’s current cuts on ABC, SBS and Australia Council are simply because they considered them not being part of their team, they are just diminishing themselves into authoritative institutes that they think they have the rights to condemn relentlessly on the international platform. They have to understand that criticisms on them do not automatically mean these people are lefties. I  question the meagre percentage raise for the defence force because the politicians are getting higher raise than the rest of the government while claiming strong focus on defence to justify spending 400 million on planes in hangers and at the same time crying no money for education, Medicare and the public broadcasters. I question them because they don’t add up and they don’t make sense.

For me an attack on arts and artists is not an attack on the lefties but an attack on a society everyone except this Coalition government is attempting to build – progressive, independent, inclusive and articulated.