Re: Nothing if Not Warm and Welcoming (Mickie Quick, Edition 1)
Great piece of writing Mickie Quick. This reflects badly on City of Sydney. Greta Thunberg talked about ‘Cathedral Thinking’ in a recent speech – a reference to both the Notre Dame fire & the immediate global action to fund its restoration, as well as the potent symbolism of medieval guilds & the legacy of those builders in light of the kind of commitment we need to address the climate emergency collectively now. It’s such a great visual reference, along with all of the other supposedly controversial imagery in the work. It’s a strong piece in a long tradition of art as social action. I’m so glad Deborah Kelly spoke up & I really appreciate the clarity you’ve given this in your writing here, particularly the point about doctoring digital work – this should not happen. As you say, a painter would never be asked to touch-up a work to appease a patron.
Thanks, Tania Leimbach
As someone who has been censored, banned and excluded from exhibit options I would urge other artists and the curator to withdraw their work in solidarity… otherwise we will see more and more of this.
Tim Burns
The editor responds:
We at EXTRA!EXTRA! agree that diversity is essential. We are all belatedly re-discovering something that has been known for centuries – that biodiversity is a key to the flourishing of human civilisation. Just as important is cultural diversity, and this should be baked in to our cultural and civic organisations. Have a look at Jenna Price’s article in this edition, as well as the weekly EXTRA!EXTRA! series by Juundaal Strang-Yettica.
Thank you, Wendy and Chris, for a meticulously researched and presented article. I hope it’s amplified in large-circulation publications, but evidence of continued muffling of climate change stories is pretty clear, so I’m not hopeful. Social media will hopefully spread it nonetheless.
Thanks!
-Peter Barnes
The Journalist responds:
I agree Peter. Every bit does spread the word. Fairfax stopped printing sceptic columns about 8 years ago and the ABC likewise. I feel that one really big danger is that the threat of the impacts of climate change – for example – the bushfires gets normalised and becomes non-newsworthy. This needs more thought I know. As someone who has worked in the mainstream, I know the pressures and try to be fair. But when we heard story after story yesterday morning about Clive James as a public intellectual, the dire warnings [about the climate crisis] from the UN on the same day were pushed into the background. The SMH did cover it but only used the AAP wire story – and the ABC station that I was listening to it mentioned it as a footnote at best.
-Wendy Bacon