Great art has always needed commerce
THE Opera House has been the subject of culture wars since before the first sod was turned, writes James Morrow. But this one, in particular, makes no sense.
Rendezview
Don't miss out on the headlines from Rendezview. Followed categories will be added to My News.
WHEN ground was first broken on the site where the Sydney Opera House now stands, not
everyone was convinced it was a good idea.
On the Left side of politics, many in the Labor Party complained about all the money and effort being put into a headquarters for high culture: “Homes, not opera houses”, was their mantra.
Meanwhile, members of Australia’s then-conservative architecture establishment were so cross with the plans for the building and its Danish designer Jorn Utzon that they forced him from the country.
The Sydney Opera House, then, is no stranger to controversy. Which is why the fight over projecting the results of tonight’s barrier draw for Saturday’s The Everest horse race feels more than slightly familiar.
By now the outlines of the fight between the state’s racing authorities and the body responsible for the Opera House are well known.
Racing NSW had an agreement to hold an event projecting the numbers and colours of the various horses on the sails of the Opera House as a five-minute segment taking place as part of a bigger, hour-long light show.
Everything seemed fine until the Sydney Opera House Trust’s boss backed away, saying it was a commercial event which would violate, among other things, the rules that go along with it being a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
What should have been the straightforward promotion of a new Sydney event using as backdrop the iconic sails of a longstanding fixture of the city’s landscape became much bigger — namely, an ongoing culture war similar to those who thought the state deserved an opera house for everyone and those who wanted high culture to remain the walled-off preserve of the few.
And today as back then, snobbery is a big part of the fight.
In an era when the city’s economic centre of gravity is shifting west and tradies make more than professionals, a fight over a popular event being held at an “elite” space is a great way for those with a cultural superiority complex to flex a bit of muscle.
Because as much as it was invoked as an excuse to oppose the barrier draw, there is little risk UNESCO is going to pull the Opera House’s certificate of authenticity over the event — or even that it would matter much if they did.
Indeed it would look a little hypocritical given that the UN got the Opera House lit up in its signature blue in honour of the world body’s 70th anniversary.
And it’s not just the UN. Commercial operations have used the sails before, to great effect: Samsung did so in 2013, to name one example, to promote a new phone.
The fact is, the use of icons to market products and events and even horse races has been going on since the invention of advertising.
From 1925 to 1934, French automaker Citroen rented the entire Eiffel Tower to string its logo up using 250,000 lights.
Last Friday, Melbournians — who love to think themselves very cultured — saw their own heritage-listed Flinders St Station display images champion racehorse Winx projected onto its facade without a peep of protest.
There is no reason a great building like the Opera House cannot be used to promote a race and, by extension, the city as well.
The Opera House lights up for Vivid, which began nine years ago and is now a fixture on the Sydney’s calendar.
(Ironically, the Opera House not only fires up for that annual festival of lights, but also goes dark each year in honour of Earth Hour, which is all very confusing.)
So if all this, why not a horse race which is the richest turf race in the world?
Oh, but they say, the Everest is a horse race — gambling central — and a commercial venture to boot.
But the Opera House’s sails have also been used in the past to promote other sports people wager on. It has urged on the Wallabies and welcomed home the Ashes.
And if vice is the issue, then presumably it’s only a matter of time before someone suggests cutting off the demon rum flowing at the Opera Bar — or makes the punters drink half-strength flutes of champagne at intermission, just like at the cricket.
Indeed the whole idea that the Opera House is some sort of sacred space that should remain unsullied by commerce falls over as soon as you take a walk around the place.
The Sydney Symphony Orchestra, whose home ground is the Opera House, has as its major sponsor Emirates Airlines, and are not shy of telling people. The same thing happens around the world.
Which is entirely fair. Great art needs commerce to survive.
The Sydney Opera House relies on the benefit of corporate sponsors and rich patrons to keep it going as a world-class destination for high culture — just as museums and artists have done for centuries.
And in the same way, great cities like Sydney also need big events to stay on the map.
While no one wants to see the Opera House cheapened, there is no reason society’s needs for high culture, popular entertainment, and global promotion need conflict.
If anything, in a great city, all three should work together.
James Morrow is the opinion editor at The Daily Telegraph.