Dark Mofo: dangerous thinking, controversy and naked swims
Kate Gould, executive director of the Hobart midwinter festival, talks controversy, her legendary father, nude swims and her new role at the Brisbane Powerhouse.
Your father, Tony Gould, the founding director of QPAC who established the Brisbane Festival, passed away last year aged 82. What kind of mentor was he?
He was the definitive mentor. He was the person who shaped my beliefs and values and guided me to be an independent thinker. I owe him a great debt of gratitude because he really challenged me to think outside the box, creatively and managerially. There’s not many people like Tony Gould. So many times I would ring him and want to sound something out. He’s just not there now. So I imagine what he would say to me; I talk to him and imagine how he would respond, and it’s inside me now. That’s how he would want that.
Speaking of thinking outside the box, Dark Mofo is obviously a breeding ground for so many weird and wonderful ideas. How does a typical conversation go down in the office?
We talk about the most bizarre ideas, we talk about concepts, different philosophies. We really do have a lot of conceptual debates about different ways of doing things and thinking. For me, Dark Mofo is one of the few arts organisations in the country that plays with art at the edges and the edges can be a dangerous place. So, it’s a pretty cool place.
This year you had to cancel Santiago Sierra, who wanted to soak the British flag in the donated blood of First Nations people. How much does audience reaction or public perception shape your programming?
It’s an interesting one because we do two things at the same time. We listen to our audience, but we also want to lead with ideas. We try to do both of those things simultaneously and that can be a challenge. We have to find a way to sit comfortably with conflicting ideas and that can cause a lot of pressure and stress in the organisation, but that’s part of the strength of an organisation that is so dangerous in its thinking. That’s, I guess, where we found ourselves this year.
The Nude Solstice Swim is an annual tradition of Dark Mofo, this year being your last festival. Have you ever taken part in the swim?
I haven’t. I have always been there speaking to the media but this year I’m going to do it. I'm going to do the Solstice Swim and when my bum hits the Derwent that’s going to be it [for my time at the festival]. I’m looking forward to it.
This week you were named as the new head of Brisbane Powerhouse. How does it feel to be returning to the arts scene your father was so instrumental in championing?
I’m returning to a new Brisbane, a Brisbane I don’t know because I haven’t been there for 17 years. It’s emotional. The Powerhouse is pregnant with possibilities. It’s one of the most beautiful locations in the world, culturally. It has some of the edge that interests me but it has its own personality that is very different to Dark Mofo. It has that beautiful landscape out to New Farm Park and the river, and there are so many possibilities to program those spaces and build that other side of Brisbane’s cultural landscape, to expand that aspect.
Dark Mofo festival runs June 16-22 in Hobart.