Disclaimer – Image may have been digitally altered
Leo Schofield has left the building. With his beloved baroque festival on the rocks, the “cultural advocate and arts champion on retainer”, as Bradley Trevor Grieve dubbed him over the weekend, has been spirited away to the safe, bogan-free haven of Potts Point with his middle finger held aloft behind him. Predictably, a social and traditional media frenzy ensued.
I don’t usually like to wade into these debates. But after reading Schofield’s “churlish, gauche and unforgivably small” (Trevor Grieve again) criticisms of Tasmania in Mark Dapin’s April 4 Sydney Morning Herald article I felt compelled to respond in some way. It’s probably not necessary – Schofield’s bitterness appears to be self-evidently based on his own issues rather than objective assessment of the facts, but even still, his voice is an influential one. And I simply don’t recognise myself, my friends, family, or colleagues in his account of the Tasmanian people. I’ve been active in the creative arena in Tasmania for a couple of decades now, and I’d like to offer my own experience & ideas as a counterpoint to some of his assertions.
“Tasmanians don’t give a flying f— about their buildings, on the whole, any more than they did about their natural environment. Their two greatest assets are the natural and the built environment, and both of these are in the process of destruction by a bunch of bogans”
The home I share with my wife & several animals is on a 5-acre block which backs onto forest. Out the front door are rich rolling hills & currawongs destroying our fruit trees.
Little bastards.
Out the back, less than one minute after opening the door I can be taking a stroll through a eucalyptus forest. Then with only half an hour’s drive I can be in the centre of Hobart – one of the country’s most historic and picturesque cities. When I’m amongst those streets, my eyes often drift up from street level, above the modern shop-frontages to admire the historic facades. Some of them are barely changed from their heyday, with even some early 20th century signage still intact. Compared to the constantly-growing glass towers of the larger cities, I find Hobart’s streets far more evocative of our colonial past – it’s easy to cast the mind back and imagine what it might have been like in centuries gone by. Take a wander through Battery Point, through Salamanca Place and then across to Hunter Street and tell me again that we don’t place any value in our heritage buildings.
Between the natural and human-made environments, seldom a day goes past where I don’t at least momentarily feel thankful for the happenstance that I was born and raised in such a remarkable part of the world. And if my enthusiasm does happen to slip, it only takes a trip to Melbourne, Sydney or Brisbane to remind me of what we have here.
I mean seriously…
“All the young people leave, and the only ones left are the dregs, the bogans, the third-generation morons”
I suppose I must concede at least a kernel of truth behind Schofield’s claim that “all the young people leave” – certainly in some industries it is more difficult to find work here than in the population hubs of Sydney and Melbourne, and I know several people who have made that choice. But to dismiss the remainder so broadly is wildly over-simplistic, and does a profound disservice to the many people who choose to remain & contribute.
I’ve contributed a bit myself. I’ve composed and performed music for a childrens’ televisions series, and I start another one later in the year. I’ve done sound design for four more such series, a couple of acclaimed, nationally broadcast documentaries, and a handful of short films, one of which I also picture-edited. Via two painstakingly composed, performed & recorded albums, my band’s music has reached and garnered fans from every populated continent on the earth. I suspect Leo Schofield would look down his nose at our music, but the group comprises some wonderful, articulate, talented people who take an immense pride in their craft.
Speaking of such people, I’m no cultural locus, but even skimming down my relatively meagre contact list I find no shortage of artists & crafstpeople who have made, and continue to make consistent, valuable contributions to the state’s cultural makeup. The animation company director who writes hilarious, memorable characters & employs a host of Tasmanian creatives. The media composer who provides the musical and emotional underpinning for dozens of films and plays. The actor & teacher who mentors aspiring performers and has had great success getting them auditions & placements. And on and on. Actors, directors, writers, musicians, designers, architects, animators, teachers, entrepreneurs… hundreds of people just in my small circle alone. All of them actively contributing to a remarkably vibrant, buzzing cultural scene. Not just bringing in already-lauded foreign culture, and propping it up in front of us.
“You all know that thing that’s several hundred years old that everyone already agrees is really rather good? Well here it is again, performed by a Russian! No no you’re too kind oh I couldn’t possibly.”
“They’d never had that (A Helpmann Award) for a Tasmanian event,” says Schofield, “except for a puppet theatre.”
Lovely. The state has never received a Helpmann Award for a “proper” show – just some silly puppet theatre. The organisation he’s blithely dismissing here is the Terrapin Puppet Theatre – a professional theatrical company in their fourth decade of fostering local talent and entertaining thousands upon thousands of people.
Terrapin has been granted some state funding for 2015 – about half what Hobart Baroque were offered and turned down. And I’ll proselytise a little here – I would much rather see government funding used to encourage and foster local talent and the production of new artistic work. The last Hobart Baroque largely comprised overseas headliners performing (by definition) works by long-dead 17th & early 18th century European composers. The opening night of the second (and final) Hobart Baroque was a presentation of Handel’s 1733 opera series Orlando. 281 years after it was written for the King’s Theatre in London. Once again, that’s fine – I’m personally more of a classical-romantic era guy myself (in so far as my tastes intersect with orchestral music) but I can appreciate a good baroque opera as much as the next guy. But imagine if the King’s Theatre back in the 1730s had been concerning itself with music that was nearly 300 years old, rather than getting composers like Handel to produce new works? That would take us back to the mid 1400s. Just a hair outside the medieval era. I hope you like the lute.
“…brave, brave sir Robin…”
At the end of the day, my feeling is that fostering and promoting new work is the better way to cement our state as a creative cultural destination. Giving Tasmania’s abundant talent the opportunities to move out into the world and become the heavyweights of tomorrow.
Going back to Handel’s era, there probably were people in 18th century London putting on nostalgic retrospectives of 14th century medieval & renaissance music, but can you name one? We remember Bach, Handel, Vivaldi etc. because they were moving forward – breaking moulds & pushing boundaries.
“You heard me – FOUR seasons. Deal with it, bitches.”
But I digress.
“I was drinking, I was taking a lot of tablets, and stupidly driving when I was in no condition to drive. I was suffering from acute depression.”
Here’s where I’ll draw my diatribe to a close. I can’t condone his driving under the influence, but I do truly hope that Leo Schofield can find some respite from his depression – it’s a disease has touched my life on occasion and I would not wish it on anyone. I’d like to believe that he’s not being deliberately vindictive or spiteful – he’s just injured and lashing out. And perhaps when he is recovered and able to look back on these events with some perspective, he’ll feel some remorse for the things that he said this past week.
But now that he’s gone, I’d like to think we can use this incident as an opportunity to more firmly embrace our own contributions to the cultural fabric.
There’s a lot of opportunity out there.
A rational response to what was clearly an irrational dummy spit. As someone (of many) who moved to Tasmania for work in the arts, I can say that my career has thrived since being here. I am glad he’s gone and I’m not the only one.
A beautifully written response to Leo’s unforgiveable outburst. There is nothing rational in what he said, just gross petulance, bitterness and generalisation. He was granted funding at a much higher level than that at which many arts companies here exist per annum, and gave no indication of going to the government with a projected budget which included matched philanthropic and corporate donations. He simply turned on all who had supported him here during his decade or so of seemingly contented existence. All have been correct to accuse him of disgraceful behaviour. A very sad turn of events, though the tantrum has been percolating for six months or so, with various attacks from him during that period. If it’s an attempt at Brisbane Baroque publicity, he should have taken better advice.
In all honesty, his presence here didn’t affect my life one iota, so I would barely have noticed his departure if it weren’t for the parting shots!
I just had a listen to some of your work – wonderful stuff! I’m not sure I would know what to do with a blank musical canvas – but give me wacky cartoon characters to write to and I’m set!
Thank you for reading and sharing your thoughts 🙂
yes Maria, I share your opinion entirely and I came from sydney where I knew Leo, via Melbourne where I saw and heard his rant when Melb Arts community finally tired of his pompous self aggrandizing and now he is off to Brizzy (yep, that’s what the Brisbanites call it .. sounds a tad ‘bogan’ to me lol) ; feel very sure that he will have another rant ere long…. lol!
leo, insulting comments and acting like a spoilt child rather than the person you should be.
Well said, witty, honest, funny.
Good rebuttal. Leo told me that his job is to raise money. I wish him well with that. I just don’t want him taking money from contemporary artists. Why not have a festival of contemporary Australian composers? That deserves government funding.
Indeed. I suppose the pat response would be to say that there’s a built in audience for Vivaldi, Handel etc. but that seems like a bit of a chicken/egg situation.
I am disappointed with Leo’s comments, as l often enjoyed his column. Having moved here from inner Sydney, 20 years ago,l have seen many mainlanders try to impose their way of thinking upon this beautiful island….. don’t!
It took me a good few years to realise…. it doesn’t work…
Hobart is equisite , just the way it is? Whilst some development has been good….l want this beautiful city to remain as untouched as possible…..(its not Melbourne or Sydney) that’s exactly what makes mainlanders fall in love with it…….UNTIL they try to change it.
Agree with this great reply. He comes over as someone who thinks Hobart is just a little Sydney. We are not and don’t want to be anything like Sydney.
A lot of people come from the mainland and settle happily here. And our old buildings are beautiful. LS just had a dummy spit because the money for his type of music was cut. Bad luck you poor old (rude) man. I for one am pleased to see you go.
Great piece of writing Nick! When this story started getting traction my immediate response was- pay no mind, the bloke sounds upset and made some angry, inaccurate comments which don’t really warrant the giving of dual shits. We are all capable of the odd ‘dummy-spit’, especially under stress and/or emotionally drained, so the congo-line of ‘proud’ Tasmanians playing the ‘two wrongs’ game whilst ignoring the main rule taught to us as children, did not hold for me much interest.
I reckon it’s great that you have used this beat-up of a ‘scandal’ to make some tremendously positive points about Tasmanian and a well argued critique of the festival’s shortcomings, rather than going for the all too easy cheap shots. Well done.
Thanks Simon 🙂
I agree – it’s tempting to join the pile-on, but I was aiming for something more constructive (with perhaps a little bit of a sting in the tail!)
Brilliantly put, Nick. I wonder what has gotten up Schofield’s nose? I used to read his articles a lot through the 80s and there was no sign of this narrow minded individual. One clue may be the depression he briefly refers to. Yes, that could do it and god knows I have seen the darkest possible side of that in the last few years. But using it as a crutch for this sort of attack on what I see as a thriving arts arena is ludicrous. Please Leo, remove your blinkers and look about you properly. If you still cannot see what is staring you directly in the face, then I suggest your twilight years are doomed to be bitter and grey. Meanwhile I will continue to enjoy this wonderful home I keep returning to.
Thanks Kev, I agree. Very nicely stated.
All the good reasons I live here. We are fortunate.
Schofield is an astute man, and has made us reflect upon where we sit in the big picture.. Bass straight is a wonderful diffuser and filter of Mainland attitudes and directions in all things including our Arts and Culture. Hobart is not Tasmania and there are many areas oft ignored in our Tasmanian society, and sometimes cherished by minorities within the Society. Bogans, Greenies,Yuppies and Toffs alike.. all have an Integral part to play in our sub-cultures.. Where would we be without diversity ?I love Tassie, a place where I, a traditional Bogan Miner, can be elected to Local Government, can be invited to Attend and Appreciate the finer things in life, such as our Taste of Tasmania, Ten Days,Vinyard Concerts,TSO,Ballet,and even Jimmy Barnes or Ace Freehley. Embrace the opportunities to be different and respect each others opinions and block out the negativities and pressure from outside influences, hell bent on wanting us to conform.. We are and should be Proud Tasmanians 🙂 Tassie tassie tassie Oi oi oi
hi Ted, thanks for the comment!
There probably is some truth lurking under the surface of Schofield’s assessment, and my rejoinder was squarely based on my own experience.
I was going to touch on some of our socio-economic woes, our somewhat stratified society, statisitically high dependence on welfare etc. But to be honest I’m not qualified to be commenting on that, so I confined this to my own experience.
Lovely article, thank you. We all know the good things of Tasmania, its arts (I am a painter and have so many opportunities to exhibit and see good art), heritage, conservation, fresh air and wonderful life style, food… I could go on and on. Leo Schofield has it seems, in his bitterness, forgotten. He is only interested in Leo Schofield and getting publicity for Leo Scholfield. In order to remain the high profile publicist he dissed it out on what is not important to him, can’t affect him, or what can’t be of use to him anymore. The best thing would be to completely ignore him, then he doesn’t get publicity, but hey I’m writing something and keeping the conversation going!!!! I guess you have to laugh… ta!
Nice work, Nick…
Very gracious and generous response Nick.
Thank you.
Schofield who?
great article. And the lute is a rather awesome instrument!
As a Pom with fond memories of my sole (so far!) visit to the island, I must chip in and say that I don’t recognise the Tasmania Schofield describes either. Heaven forbid that he should ever move to Blighty and witness what’s being done to the arts, wider culture and the environment over here – his apoplexy would know no bounds…
As a further thought, here’s a handful of names for y’all: Liza Lim, Brett Dean, Kevin Volans (actually a South African, but one who now considers himself proudly Aussie), the recently deceased Peter Sculthorpe…hell, even dear ol’ Percy Grainger. I’d like to think that, were I Australian, these, not some long-dead Europeans, are among the composers I’d want to celebrate, if anything because they aren’t everyone’s cuppa.
Bugger, I forgot Georges Lentz (another immigrant, this time from Luxembourg…and who can blame him???). Check out the solo electric guitar moves on his Ingwe (nothing to do with near-namesake Mr Malmsteen).
Perhaps stick to your policy
‘I don’t usually like to wade into these debates’.
Regards
A friend.
Hey Marcus,
Apologies for the (extremely) late response, but apparently I haven’t been getting notifications!
Did you have a specific issue with my rebuttal, or just general disdain? I’m happy to discuss further, online or off.
Best,
Nick