Women in art and politics

I thought I’d share with you, the speech I made at the Parliament of Western Australia at the conclusion of my Artist in Residence program, and exhibition opening in 2018. I’d like to thank again the team at Edith Cowan University, Professor Clive Barstow and Sue Starken, and the Sargeant at Arms for the Legislative Assembly for spearheading this extraordinary program. I’d love to hear your thoughts, on the topic.

The Artist in Residence experience

As a white, first-generation Australian of Mediterranean descent, I am in a very privileged position. And even more so I’m extremely honoured and was thrilled to be awarded this visionary and prestigious artist in residence opportunity.

During my residency, I’ve come to realise that perhaps being an artist and a Member of Parliament might not actually be as different as it first sounds.  You put yourself “out there”, are passionate about making positive change, and believe that the world can be a better place. But, everyone’s a critic, everything can be taken out of context or interpreted in the seemingly most unexpected ways, and there is never enough you can do, or comment on.  There are so many causes that you can advocate for, but there are only so many hours in a day and you will never please everyone. And so, I wondered how this residency would play out, what would I be responding to, in a place that is so rich with history, meaning, and importance. 

When first entering parliament, I was overwhelmed by the architecture and the rich interior. Coming from an architectural background, I recognized that this space was still very much in the style of an exclusive Victorian-era Gentlemen’s Club despite this space housing our democratically elected and diverse individuals. We are a multicultural society sitting on Aboriginal land in the twenty-first century and the interior didn’t seem to reflect that at all. So, I immediately wanted to redress this imbalance.

Above is The Savile Club in London, epitomising the Victorian Era aesthetics of a Gentlemen’s Club. This is mirrored in the interior of the Parliment of Western Australia, signalling it as a men’s place.

I was immediately drawn to the stories of the pioneering women of Parliament and spending time in the library reading about the early years of women in parliament. Women had to combat challenges very foreign to me. One of Edith Cowan’s first speeches reminded me that it wasn’t that long ago that women were once considered men’s chattel.

While women may not be considered men’s property today, the misogyny that I was reading about from 100 years ago, was so closely resonating with the nightly news. The #metoo movement, the gender pay gap, domestic violence against women, women’s homelessness, and of course in politics, seeing Julie Bishop being completely overlooked by her own party.

We are in an era where feminism is often characterised as unnecessary, a fight that has already been won, or only for men-hating women. Through this work I want to express that despite our brave faces and empowerment, thus far, that so much more needs to be done. Unfortunately, Edith Cowan’s election platform which included Equal Pay for Equal Work is still just as valid now. Furthermore, we still need even greater diversity, and greater consideration for our future generations, as we stumble into- what we hear about almost every day now in the news in some form- an era of more plastic in the ocean than fish by 2050, increasing changes of catastrophic weather, while I could go on and on, it simply means that we are leaving future generations with a world that will be less habitable than their ancestors.

Responding through art

This work aims to reflect not just the general contributions of the greatest achievements of these women, but the new issues that were raised and debated merely by having diversity represented in parliament. I learned that with women in parliament came greater caring for women and children’s needs, an opening of doors for ethnic and cultural diversity, and many women who cared for the environment. That is not to say that men didn’t support previously raise or address some of these issues, only that the diversity of perspectives encourages accelerated growth and understanding of our society, more thorough debate and passionate advocates for women’s issues.

The work redresses this imbalance, by taking the upper-class tool of control and exclusivity, the calling cards, and the silver tray, which was used to request to see the occupants in the 1800s through to the early 1900s. The tray is now distinctively much larger, almost shield-like, reflecting their combined strength and defense of women’s issues. It is composed of all 93 women, some of which were extraordinary trailblazers, but collectively it celebrates the sheer number of women in the Western Australian Parliament and their combined achievements. You’ll probably notice there are some cards left blank, to show we aren’t finished yet, and in the centre, when viewing the work, your own reflection, I hope, prompts you to ask, what have I done and how can my future actions fit a broad, inclusive feminist agenda?

The work is also light yet strong. The edging echoes what was traditionally termed ‘women’s work’ that is the textile art and lacework. Here the edge of the shield (or tray) is like lace trim, yet on examination is clearly the contemporary symbols of women, men, and transgender combined together.

My work thus aims to visually add feminine qualities to the gentlemen’s club aesthetics. It creates a hybridised aesthetic of the past ‘flourishes’ with contemporary materials and industrial machining processes. It is inspired particularly by our earliest women parliamentarians’ resilience and resistance towards the opposition, their fight for wider social justice for others, and the subsequent opportunities and protection they enabled.

Thus, the artwork forms a ‘shield of voices’; expressing the act of standing up and defending one’s rights by stating their presence and value in being heard, to reflect the struggles for equality and representation of minorities or the disadvantaged through verbal discussion and face-to-face meeting.