Editor’s letter: what’s the point of art in 2022?

What’s the point of art? Perhaps Jackson Pollock said it best: ‘Art is coming face to face with yourself.’

Few industries were affected as deeply by the Covid-19 pandemic as were the arts. Picture: Hamilton at Her Majesty's Theatre, Melbourne.

What is the point of art? I mean what actually is its value to society, its intrinsic worth? What’s the point? It is a question that has followed – even perplexed and tormented, in some cases – humanity since the dawn of civilisation. Evidently there is no easy answer to that question. But surely it’s a valid question. Indeed, in an age of global pandemics, civilisation-threatening climate change, geopolitical gnashing of teeth and state-sanctioned warmongering, that question arguably has never been in more need of an answer. But then perhaps all that is the answer.

The most profound examples of creative endeavour are born of experience, if not adversity, and the Australian cultural sector has had its fair share of tough times during the past two years. Few industries were affected as deeply by the Covid-19 pandemic as were the arts. Tens of thousands of arts workers lost their jobs; the Morrison government announced a rescue package for the sector that barely touched the sides; and to add insult to injury, arts budgets across the country were slashed. Again.

While the sector – which adds almost $15 billion to the national economy annually and employs almost 200,000 people – is bouncing back, the arts are hurting. That hurt translated to society, too. Book deliveries fell victim to border closures; the film industry ground to a halt; cinemas, concert halls and theatres shut down overnight and audiences were left all dressed up with nowhere to go. Even now theatregoers are gun shy. To be (masked) or not to be (masked)? That is the Shakespearean quandary in which we find ourselves in 2022. Indeed the only arts sectors to register significant growth during the pandemic were the commercial art market – buoyed by would-be international travellers spending their holiday funds on art – and television, one of the few genres that can be enjoyed on the couch.

So with the worst of Covid (hopefully) behind us, the question remains: where to now? Who are the identities taking the arts scene forward in a post-pandemic Australia? Who are the people taking publishing, visual arts, music, dance, film, TV to the world? And what about those creating their own path? Digital artists breaking new ground in the non-fungible token market? The philanthropists changing the face of our cities with donations – some in the hundreds of millions. Who are the cultural leaders, the administrators, willing to take a chance on a bold idea, on a new work, on a new artist, a new venture?

The List: 100 Arts & Culture. NFT art by Raoul Marks.

Today, we present our list – selected by our expert panel of journalists – of 100 game changers in the arts. They are the public figures pulling the sector out of the Covid quicksand and sending it into the stratosphere.

See The List: 100 Arts & Culture stars

Speaking of space, you may have noticed our cover. The artwork was made by NFT artist and two-time Emmy winner Raoul Marks – spoiler alert: he is on the List. The artwork, and the cover itself, are available to buy as NFTs. What’s an NFT? Well, the answer to that – and details on how you can own one – is inside, alongside a host of features, profiles and deep-dive reportage on the state of the arts. (Plus we have a couple of fantastic writerly cameos from artist Ben Quilty and singer-songwriter Kate Miller-Heidke. Don’t miss them.)

What’s the point of art? Perhaps Jackson Pollock – whose painting Blue Poles, purchased in 1973 by the Whitlam government for the National Gallery of Australia, remains a symbol of the very best of Australia’s cultural ambition – said it best: “Art is coming face to face with yourself.” Without further ado, I invite you to come face to face with 100 identities shaping this country’s cultural future. Welcome to The List: Arts & Culture 2022.