A say and a spray
STATUES are constructed for a reason.
They don’t just appear overnight. They have been commissioned (generally by somebody who has the financial resources) to make sure that a work of art is put to a permanent public use. They are designed, carved out of stone and installed to remind all who view the piece of the narrative of the conqueror.
The MCG is surrounded by statues. Sporting greats who have graced the turf. These bronze figures are more than landmarks.
They are an introduction to the spectacle of the ’G grandeur. They remind us that the price of the admission buys us a potential glimpse of history.
The Catholic Church has used statues for centuries. Their flock don’t believe in worshipping the idols, but the statues have been very handy in detailing the narrative that the church wants to espouse.
The church began to use statues because many believers were illiterate. The statues provided a series of images of the life and times of the major players and their deeds. This larger-than-life illustration paves the way to the acceptance of a hierarchy.
In the months after 9/11 George W. Bush pulled together an Alliance of the Willing to ride in to Baghdad. As the tanks rolled in to the capital, one of the most prominent images of the invasion was the toppling of a giant statue of Saddam Hussein. Heavy machinery was used to pull the statue to the earth.
The image of the tyrant had been replicated throughout his country. This public art was propaganda that propped up his dictatorship. The public desecration of the statue was significant in the marketing of the war. The scene demonstrated that the Alliance was in control and freedom was on the way.
Last week, some statues in Sydney were painted with slogans of protest.
Black spray paint reading “Change the date” and “No pride in Genocide”.
Captain Cook was not randomly attacked. This was a chosen political statement in the middle of the night.
The spray paint disagreed with the commissioned view of history. The statues of British men were not pulled to the ground with earth moving equipment, but this lone act has sparked a debate.
The Prime Minister expressed his own opinion on Facebook.
He said the spray painting was “part of a deeply disturbing and totalitarian campaign to not just challenge our history but to deny it and obliterate it”.
Then he doubled down on the hysteria.
“This is what Stalin did: When he fell out with his henchmen he didn’t just execute them, they were removed from all official photographs. They became non-persons, banished not just from life’s mortal coil but from memory and history itself.”
These comparisons are deeply disturbing. Stalin was a ruthless dictator with an army of men behind him.
This spray painter worked alone. The NSW police released blackand-white images of a man. They described him as being of “caucasian appearance”, beard, black sunglasses, black track pants and brown boots.
The Sydney man is not a ruthless dictator, removing his opponents from the history books. This man is calling for the history of indigenous people of Australia to be included. For the PM to compare this unknown individual to a murderous dictator is a bewildering twist on the concept of respectful debate.
Th e Prime Minister knows full well why the statues were erected. He knows what they were designed to commemorate. He knows that Cook is representative of the dominating cultural force. There is no doubt that statues need review in our culture. Their role of historic descriptors in 21st Century seems quaint and relatively expensive. We are far better educated, we have greater interconnectivity. We have greater insight to our own history and we can discover for ourselves what really happened. We know that Cook did not “discover” Australia. This fact needs to be reflected in our national identikit. At the start of this month, both Malcolm Turnbull and Bill Shorten went to the Garma Festival in north-east Arnhem Land. They spent time away from Canberra and talked about the possible referendums. They presented open and honest interest in the future recognition of the First Australians in our Parliament and Constitution. Malcolm Turnbull said he looked forward to understanding “what Makarrata means”. His reaction to the Sydney spray painting suggests that he is still searching for a definition that suits his grand narrative. Ross Mueller is a freelance writer and director.