Reflections on Conflict and Memorialisation
The four-year commemorative frenzy around ‘The Great War’ (branded as Anzac 100) came to an end in 2018, however government expenditure on all things Anzac continues apace, a small percentage of which is allocated to arts and cultural initiatives. Some excellent exhibitions which deal—directly or obliquely—with these matters have been mounted during this time, and it seems like an appropriate moment to examine their contribution and value to our national cultural life.
The expenditure figures are revealing. According to articles in Overland1and Honest History,2combined Federal, State and corporate spend on Anzac 100stood at a conservative $586.4 million in May 2017, and Honest History’s David Stephens, weaving his way through government budget papers and corporate reports, estimates that overall national expenditure (including corporate donations) had topped $700 million by the close of 2018. This is three and a half times more than all other countries combined, including the USA, Britain, France and Germany. Just take that in for a moment. Of WWI’s eight million dead, 60,000 were Australians, or less than one percent. By comparison Canada, which suffered many thousands more causalities, spent a total of around $31 million on its commemorations—about $465 per fatality, against our $11,290.3 The new Sir John Monash Centre in Villers-Bretonneux (France)—one of ex-Prime Minister Tony Abbott’s ‘captain’s calls’, which promises an ‘immersive multimedia journey’—cost $100 million alone, more than a medium-sized new hospital. According to Australian writer Richard Flanagan, the Australian government will spend over a billion dollars on war memorials between 2014 and 2028.4 It is unclear if Flanagan’s estimate includes the half-billion dollars allocated for expansion of the Australian War Memorial (AWM) in Canberra (aka... The rest of this article is available to subscribers of Eyeline
Danny Boyle, Pages from the Sea, 2018. Sand drawing.
Richard Lewer, It’s true drawing saved me, 2018. Graphite on paper and boxing bag, 152x315cm and 100x50cm. Courtesy the artist.
