Hobart mirror talk: A response to Brian Ritchie

In a recent Q&A with MONA FOMA curator Brian Ritchie over on The Thousands, published on the 17th of October, the topic of the perception of Hobart arose. In this discussion, 'events like MONA FOMA' are held up as the shining light which will help Hobart avoid the stereotype of being little more than a cultural ghetto. Therein, Brian Ritchie makes a few claims about Hobart that I'd like to disagree with. Here’s the final question and answer from that piece (read the full thing here), copied wholesale for some necessary context:

Do you think that events like MONA FOMA are changing the wider mentality of people in Hobart?

Tasmania has an endemic inferiority complex, which I think is being dispelled because of the stuff that we are doing. We're also not by any means the only thing happening. There are great places here. There are a lot of excellent art galleries and music, and a few night clubs with original music. I think it's maybe changing the attitude of the Hobartians. They are actually really proud of Tasmania, but kind of afraid to say so. People ask me: "Why did you move to Tasmania?" and I say, "Well, you know why. It's beautiful, the food is great, the people are really friendly." Maybe there's a certain amount of affirmation going on as a result of the museum being open and a result of people like me and other foreigners and mainlanders coming down and saying: "Wow, this place is great!" It's also giving some of the young people a reason to hang around. Tasmania uses the young population at a greater rate. I've talked to booking agents about this; you can book acts for really young people, and for older people, but you can't for 25-40 year olds because they've all left. There's a whole, like, lost generation in Tasmania. I think that maybe having a little bit of critical mass on the creative side of things is providing different possibilities for young people. Maybe they can stay here and even have an art practice here. It's not a pre-requisite for them to think that they have to leave. We've actually had some people moving here because of what's going on. It's changing.

Firstly, I feel this response is quite condescending. The idea that the Hobart arts scene can only appreciate itself or realise how good it might be after the validation of outsiders is a little offensive. That only through the affirmation of 'foreigners' and 'mainlanders' taking an interest in our city's culture, we can then ourselves know its worth a dime? I don't buy it.

I've probably blown his comment way out of proportion, but I think its an interesting issue nonetheless.
 
Ritchie refers to Hobart as having an “endemic inferiority complex”, but I don't think that's a fair judgement of Hobart's self-perception. Hobart is small. We're a city of 215,000 people, and we don't have the critical mass to support a glut of music venues or a huge arts scene. Hobart is small. Is it an inferiority complex if we accept that we're small or 'inferior'? In terms of critical mass, infrastructure, diversity of arts community etc, we are – purely in quantitative terms – inferior. We are small. A little isolated, even. But... so what? I see Hobart as more a city of realists than one with an endemic inferiority complex. People create art for themselves and for anyone who gives a damn, and hey – sometimes those people who give a damn live in Melbourne or Chicago. 
 
I don't think Everett True's stamp of approval on Hobart group Naked made much of a difference in the band's profile or perception in their home town. People already appreciated the band and if anything, this tiny little piece of blog buzz just made those same people turn their heads, nod and say “yeah, we know”, and then go on with their lives. If you're invested in it, its exciting when it happens; any kind of recognition is welcome and makes you feel good about your band/the local scene. I'd debate that it's more “hey, other people like what we [Hobart] is producing, that is nice and makes me feel good”; rather than “hey, other people like what we're doing in Hobart, I didn't realise we were good!”

Bad Luck Charms - I Need to Get Out by Noise, Etc.

Side-stepping for a second, one thing I don't understand is this quote from Ritchie, in which he talks about these bastions of great local culture as a reason to live in Hobart:
 

There are a lot of excellent art galleries and music, and a few night clubs with original music. I think it's maybe changing the attitude of the Hobartians. They are actually really proud of Tasmania, but kind of afraid to say so.

Who is honestly afraid to say they're proud of Tasmania? Tasmania is positioned as an underdog for many reasons – it's size, mostly – but I don't have any explicit memories of any Hobart artists who would be embarrassed of their home city. I'm fucking proud of Hobart and that's why I started this dumb blog, so people both in- and out-side of the local arts community could read about and listen to Hobart music. I'm curious who these people are and why they're afraid to be proud of Tasmania.

The Hobart scene is notorious for falling into, at times, little more than an incestuous circle jerk. Circle jerks are fun, mind you, but they are also exclusive cliquey things that reject outside (i.e., the mainland) influence. We already realise we have something great going on here and maybe that's what Ritchie wanted to express. Hobart can be indignantly alone in a kind of fuck-you-'mainland'-I-can-do-this-on-my-own way; the isolate State proving it can make it on its own terms. Its what happened in the past few years when many reviews from Melbourne and Sydney outlets would cite 'isolation' as a thematic constant in many Hobart music releases. “How dare they! We can fly across Bass Strait whenever we want! We have the internet!” we'd beckon in a kind of self-assured unison. While isolation is, I think, a reoccurring element in Hobart music circa late 2000s (Ivy St., hey), the local scene didn't want to be boxed in this way. You can't tell us what we are; we aren't small! It was a shrug at outsider labelling, whether misinformed or not. This attitude is kind of in opposition to the one Ritchie discusses; and while I could just be viewing everything from my seat in the alternative music arena (the outsiders of the outsiders) rather than just a general 'Hobartian' stance (the outsiders), I don't think its completely off.

In my short experience, Hobart arts isn't as concerned with outside validation as much as Ritchie implies. As far as I can tell, while reaching for a wider, national audience is something many artists and musicians desire (and sometimes achieve), Hobart is not tied up in some bizarre notion of “we're only valuable if someone outside our city tells us so.” That's backwards.

I don't think I can speak on behalf of anyone in the arts / music community because, for the most part, I act as little more than an observer, a promoter, a documenter. I'm just a youthful little shit with an internet connection and an(other fucking) opinion to throw into the wind, but I think its a discussion worth igniting again. What do you honestly think about yourself, Hobart?


Criticism encouraged.

alexanderbennetts@gmail.com