Controversial prize would certainly get Fair City talked about

Stage: Turner Prize could give Perth plenty of publicity

Much modern art has the ability to inspire and irritate in equal measure. However, without artists pushing the boundaries, the world of art would be a far less interesting place.

Usually only with the benefit of the passing of time can the wheat be sorted from the chaff, with artists whose work was once considered shocking appreciated and accepted as pieces of art of true value.

The revelation that success in the City of Culture bid 2021 could lead to the Turner Prize being staged in Perth will have been greeted with enthusiasm from some and trepidation from others.

The award has always courted controversy, with past winners including enfant terrible Damien Hirst and unconventional potter Grayson Perry placing the Turner Prize at the forefront of all that is breaking new ground in art.

That these names should even be familiar to the man in the street is testament to the publicity the event has garnered in the 30 years it has been running.

If such a publicity feast as the Turner Prize could indeed be brought to Perth, it would put the city on a worldwide stage that it has never enjoyed before.

Whether the works vying for the accolade – and the top prize of £25,000 – might be regarded as preposterous by the more staid of Perth citizens is largely irrelevant.

The importance of the prize and the works it seeks to judge is its power of impact on all associated with it, from the hosting city to the long-term shape of what we come to accept as art.

That it could be staged in a newly refurbished city hall would be a validation of the reinvented and previously moribund hall as an arts venue.

So genteel citizens of Perth be prepared to be shocked, amused and bemused by the controversial art event – the city’s reputation will be altered forever if the glittering prize does indeed descend on Perth. Get in touch with your local office at Perth of send a letter to The Courier at letter@thecourier.co.uk

Could controversial work like Damien Hirst’s Mother and Child, Divided – a cow and calf, each bisected and preserved in formaldehyde solution – come to Perth?