Damon Styles keeps a list of those who have crossed him. In a small, bully-rich town like Strathven, there are a lot of them. Damon has a plan, though, and getting his gun licence is only part of it. Next he needs to get a job with the Pigman. Nobody really knows the latter. He is foreign, shoots pigs, and keeps to himself, which is quite enough to fuel rumours in Strathven. Damon knows that the Pigman can teach him what he needs to know about implementing his plan, but he doesn’t know that the people of Strathven have a plan as well.

Paradoxical neglect

Dear Editor,

Patrick McCaughey’s article ‘NativeGrounds and Foreign Fields: The Paradoxical Neglect of Australian Art Abroad’ (June 2011) caught my attention because of its title, then its content. The latter part of the title is slightly old-fashioned. ‘Abroad’, to me, seems to have a fairly British flavour – those places outside those little islands, across the channel. Even ‘overseas’ is more appropriate for ocean-flanked Australia, but that too seems a little 1980s-jet-travel-era rather than the instant meeting of e-contacts today. Perhaps ‘international’ is better, but that word ‘national’ gets in the way.

‘Abroad’ does have the merit of the other meaning: of being ‘out and about’ – being there and being seen.  So what does Patrick McCaughey mean by ‘abroad’? As founding director of the main program to send Australian art ‘abroad’ – the Asialink Touring Exhibition Program – I am interested in his analysis. Asialink’s program is the largest international program Australia supports in terms of the number of exhibitions (more than seventy to date), artists, venues, media coverage, and, crucially, audiences. Its history has been published (and reviewed in ABR, November 2010) in my book entitled Every 23 Days: 20 Years Touring Asia – this particular title referring to the average time between Asialink exhibition openings throughout this period.

I was disappointed by the lack of any mention of our program, but also of Asia at all. If Patrick McCaughey wants to talk about the Australian art exhibited in north-east America and north-west Europe, including the United Kingdom, fine, because that is what he does; but he shouldn’t make the assumption that that part of the world is all that is relevant. Why do this in Australia today? I’d hate to think it was because the audience in the United States was seen as more important than that in Japan.

The total attendance for Asialink’s latest show, Face to Face, in Seoul is nearly 50,000 people. Yes, 50,000 Koreans seeing a show of Australian contemporary art is great. Korean artists such as Nam June Paik and Lee U-fan (leader of Mono-ha) led their international status decades ago, but they are ably followed today by mid-career artists such as Choi Jeong Hwa, Kimsooja, and Lee Bul, all of whom have been seen in Australia. Mami Kataoka, senior curator at the Mori Art Museum in Tokyo, in Melbourne recently to speak at the Melbourne Town Hall, told of the upcoming Lee Bul retrospective at Mori. If the latter is as successful as that of Tracey Moffatt and Patricia Piccinini, shown recently in Tokyo, everyone will be pleased. Asia is an exciting place for Australian art – perhaps more so today than the Atlantic borders.

Besides this angle in Patrick McCaughey’s article, there is a wider issue that does deserve serious discussion: how to measure our profile internationally. We are good at self-criticism, but I think, by and large, we do well internationally, considering some special issues we have to face. The first is our ‘indistinct’ cultural profile (apart from Aboriginal Australia), which is not easy to categorise for time-poor foreigners (we aren’t ‘other’; nor are we ‘inner’); we are far from other places, including Tokyo, Beijing, and even Jakarta; our cities are spread widely; and we don’t spend enough to combat these factors. Asialink’s program is funded by $200,000 to $400,000 annually from the federal government, and only works because of partnerships in Australia and Asia. The Japan Foundation spends a huge amount more. For anyone aware of the Alliance or British Council or Goethe and their offices in Asia, our budget is laughable. Bearing all the above in mind (and our small population), we don’t do so badly. But it is true that we could do better. Oh for an Australian international council with a focused strategy for engagement and real funds to do it. Then we could really do something wonderful.

Alison Carroll, Director, Asialink Arts 1990–2010

CONTENTS: JULY–AUGUST 2011

Majestic gongs

ABR in the past has been critical of the paucity of writers receiving national honours and the over-representation of politicians, bureaucrats, and plutocrats, so it was pleasing to find several distinguished writers among those honoured on the Queen’s Birthday. Christopher Wallace-Crabbe, a stalwart friend of ABR, received an AM. (We have a poem of his in this issue.) Other writers honoured in this round were Professor Graeme Davison (AO), Professor George Williams (AO), and prolific biographer Peter FitzSimons (AM).

Antarctic splendour

Fresh from winning this year’s National Biography Award for his biography of Walter Burley Griffin and Marion Mahony Griffin (Grand Obsessions, Lantern), Alasdair McGregor has just published an anthology of Antarctic writings. Antarctica: That Sweep of Savage Splendour (also from Penguin, this time under the Viking imprint). McGregor – a former architect – is a man of many parts: two of his paintings are reproduced in the book. James Bradley, editor of The Penguin Book of the Ocean (2010), will review Antarctica in the next issue.

Peter Porter Poetry Prize

For the eighth year in a row, we are seeking entries in our Poetry Prize, now named after Peter Porter (1929–2010). The first prize is worth $4000, and the other shortlisted poets will each receive $250. The judges this year are Judith Beveridge and David McCooey. Entries close on 21 November. Full details can be found here.

Wisteria days

Truth be told, reviewers rarely hear from their subjects. The response to most reviews, whether critical or laudatory, is usually muted. But not in London, apparently. Last month, biographer and art historian Frances Spalding reviewed Alexandra Harris’s new book for us. In the review she wrote, ‘Romantic Moderns,like this year’s wisteria in England, is catching the attention of many.’ Returning home one evening, Professor Spalding found a small wisteria on her doorstep, a gift from the author, who had enjoyed the analogy (and the review). She told Advances: ‘I must be careful in the future not to compare her next book with a white elephant.’

Island capers

Island magazine’s new editor, Sarah Kanowski, launched the magazine’s winter issue in style at the Mona Wine Bar, on 30 June. The new issue includes reviews of the museum, the art within, and the accompanying publication, Monanisms, along with several poems and short stories – one of which was penned by Mona’s onlie begetter, David Walsh. Daniel Thomas discussed Mona at length in our June issue.

Critic of the year

Geordie Williamson was a fitting recipient of the 2011 Pascall Prize, an annual award for a critic whose work has significantly contributed to the public appreciation, enjoyment, and understanding of the arts. Geordie, who received $15,000, has been chief literary critic of The Australian since 2008. His connection with ABR goes back even further than that. In his acceptance speech, Geordie noted that we commissioned his first review, back in November 2001. ABR congratulates this graceful and hugely well-read critic.

Six cheers for Federation

Federation has much to answer for – not least those anachronistic vice-regal palaces and posts – but it has given New South much to play with in its series of concise studies of the capital cities. First up came Peter Timms’s Hobart, Matthew Condon’s Brisbane, and Delia Falconer’s Sydney, which has just been shortlisted for the Prime Minister’s Non-Fiction Award (Delia is our subject on Open Page this month). Next in line is the Melbourne volume (August), from Sophie Cunningham. Later this year, New South will publish Kerryn Goldsworthy’s book on Adelaide, to be followed in 2012 by Wendy Were’s Perth and Paul Daley’s Canberra, in time for the centenary of the ‘feral capital’ (Philip Hodgins) in 2013. Mr Daley is clearly busy; later this year MUP will publish his book on that other great destination, Collingwood.

Australian Poetry Library

They all turned out on 25 May when Professor Marie Bashir, governor of New South Wales, launched the Australian Poetry Library website – and no wonder! This is a remarkable resource for Australian poets, readers, students, and educators. The website contains tens of thousands of poems by 217 of Australia’s leading poets, along with a range of critical, biographical, and audiovisual material. The site, more than three years in the making, was a joint project between the University of Sydney, CAL’s Cultural Fund, and the Australian Research Council. Brian Johns, chair of CAL’s Cultural Fund, remarked: ‘This is an imaginative way of supporting our poets, and linking their work to the educational sector to the benefit of all.’

Philanthropy II

In June we reported on Christopher Menz’s departure from ABR. Amy Baillieu has now succeeded him as Philanthropy Manager. Amy, who recently completed her MA in Publishing and Communications at the University of Melbourne, has been an editor at ABR since 2009. If you wish to make a donation, please email Amy: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

CONTENTS: JULY–AUGUST 2011

Sometime around 1820, forty years after its Industrial Revolution began, Britain overtook China to become the world’s richest country. Sometime between now and 2020, forty years after China’s own Industrial Revolution was launched by Deng Xiaoping’s economic reforms, China is set to overtake the United States and regain its place at the top of the world’s economy.