So, The Loftys; a demonstrated dedication to and passion for the multiplicity of cultural voices and arts practices that make up central Australia.
This years Lofty winner, who's pronoun is they/them, demonstrates, indelibly, the slow work that Place needs to flourish. Tonight we recognise what dedication looks like, tonight we acknowledge that nothing is done alone, that living is an act of collaboration. Tonight we celebrate the deep knowing that comes with commitment to place and its people.
While most of us often attribute ideas of caliber to levels of fame, While we are distracted by those names in big flashing lights, and drawn to wanna-be-deities with their thousands of followers, and seek incessantly for those tiny dopamine hits, this years winner sees past these traps of modernity and lives by an ethos of slow, deep, real connection, perhaps of a time past, or a time yet to come. But more than this, in multiple ways they share, or offer this way of being with others.
While often award winners are specialists that have built a reputation with one idea explored through multiple facets, it would be hard to fit all the feathers on this years' winners' hat. Built over more than four decades the intersectionality of their understanding of place requires them to move outside of the typical bounds of ‘art’, although creativity and the complexity that it offers or requires, is central to all levels of their - what we might call - practice.
It will take a format longer than this, and perspectives longer than one lifetime, to fully express and appreciate the depth of contribution and impact to the arts and its multiplicity of cultural voices. But tonight we give that process the boost and spotlight it deserves.
And I should say that the nominators - some of who are with us tonight and will be named shortly, are - cross generational and cross disciplinary, each of whom are highly regarded and deeply respected themselves.
Back to our Lofty; They have made an art of balancing risk taking with pragmatism, and perhaps that talks to the core of what has enabled them to do their work. Understanding that wicked problems require inventive and unique conversations; through words, forms and generosity.
Whether natured or nurtured, their ability to empathize knows no bounds and they demonstrate compassion well beyond what most would consider practical, taking on responsibility for a wide range of individuals from many species, from stray and injured animals to old River redgums. They are humble to the brink of vanity, and so full of theories and explanations that it can leave you spinning.
As creative generalists their work expresses itself in many ways, occasionally as the explosive crash pollination of a Blue-banded bee wreaking havoc in one dramatic impact, sometimes as the Pied Butcher bird, practicing and honing their message over and over until ready for the intended audience, from time to time as the cicada, crawling from their seventeen year dug-out to add colour and beauty and story and detail to the surfaces of this town, as the mulga ant that studiously raises a buttress to safeguard against sudden inundation, at times as the much dreaded skle-row-leena burring in the sides of petty bureaucrats and governance structures but mostly as the mycelia, the quiet underground connector, carrying messages, tending to soil, the foundation and facilitator for so many others to be.
So collectively a they / them, individually tonights lofty winner is a she / her and a he / him. Tonight we celebrate the combined and symbiotic talents, contribution and dedication of our most enduring creative partnership: Maria Giacon and Mike Gillam.
Several years ago a down on their luck boilermaker had the good fortune of a flat bicycle tyre out the front of number 4 Hele Crescent. He was unemployed and living in a caravan park, riding 50km a day on a clapped out bike, in summer temperatures andto collect enough cans to make rent and earn enough money to eat (and drink). By the time the bike was going again he had a full stomach and the promise of a job and a place to stay if he came back the next morning. Over the next 12 months or so Boffa became a Hele Crescent staple and lived on site earning his living along side Mike and Maria, becoming integral to all aspects of the ongoing development. And I dont meant to suggest that he worked under any pretense of charity, just regular solidarity and some new friendships. Concurrently he was helped by M and M to sort out his tax, seek medical help for a significant prior work related injury, drink slightly less, have his teeth fixed and make a valued artistic contribution to the Hele Crescent precinct. He was mentored to create a series of artistic security screens from found objects that have been successful in giving back to the street, providing shade and amenity while gently providing physical security without really looking like it. As a tennant of Hele crescent I can attest that these screens are commented on all the time but as is always the case where Maria and Mike are involved the backstory is just as interesting and meaningful as the finished product.
This is really just one example of their egalitarian sentiments and the way they manifest in the cultural life of Alice Springs;
From dragging a 1950’s Qantas mobile stair loader out to the Bond Springs Airstrip to shoot Nokturnals ‘Time Flies’ iconic album cover pro-bono.
To Breaking-in to the Old Town Gaol when it was slated for demolition in 1997 with Domenico Pecorari and an ABC camera person to prove that the site and buildings weren’t beyond repair and were deserving of preservation and a heritage listing. The site is now the Women’s Museum of Australia.
To other previous and ongoing crusades to preserve the built and cultural values and relationships of Mparntwe alice springs.
To opening the Silver Bullet Cafe - by many accounts the first place you could reliably get a decent coffee in Alice Springs and famous for the demand that it be removed from all Tourism NT brochures so as to maintain a space for locals and not become a tourist destination. Some say to be a local you need to see Lhere Mpantwe flow three times, others that you had to have had a coffee at the Silver Bullet cafe…
To Salvaging and housing the library of classical literature and philosophy of the late Alexander Prus-Gryzbowski.
To cobbling together 150m of wayward fire hose and pioneering techniques to effectively suffocate chimney fires in our river red gums. One half of the partnership holding the ladder steady, the other climbing precariously into the canopy.
To self funding the streetscaping of Hele Crescent now reaching more than one half of one side of the street and shaming the council into reluctantly pouring a footpath for which all the formwork and coordination was provided by Maria and Mike in kind.
To tirelessly hand watering for over a decade the innumerable native species planted up and down the street with rain water harvested on site.
There's also stories about stray dogs, stray dingoes, orphaned budgeriegars, to spending hours with a fully grown perentie attached orally to Mikes forearm lest he damage its dentition by attempting to pry it off. Theres the Tanami toadlet. In all there are too many chapters and anecdotes to continue listing here tonight but I hope these give colour to the breadth, depth and endurance of their contributions.
Ostensibly a scientist and a pharmacist - because neither openly carry the mantle of ‘artist’.
At times they have configured as gallerists, as a nationally renowned landscape photographer, as benefactors both in spirit and in means, as major collectors of Dan Murphy and the late Ian Campell, among others, as volunteers., more widely widely as friends and confidants.
While Mike is renowned for his energetic public facing art, advocacy, activism, enterprise and, at times, sublime photographs, Maria is the bedrock enabler, co-architect, financier, scruiteneer and mentor who operates privately but is central and core to all of their endeavours.
It is a measure of the grace with which they navigate commercial and artistic realms that they will likely remain unique in lofty’s history for being the only landlords to ever be nominated by their tenants, as well as attracting a multi-generational nomination spanning boomers, X’ers and possibly one or two millennials, some of whom you will hear from shortly.
If our fellow co-nominators would join us; Kieran Finnane and Fiona Walsh'.
As a caring partnership they show us what a life-long commitment to Place looks like. For the radical creativity and rebellious life choices they demonstrate through words, images, building, landscaping, landcare, political engagement, dedication to friends, patience (from local government bureaucracy to chasing elusive seasonal beetles to photograph), as well as their ongoing generosity and time given to traveling artists, architects, policy makers and valuers, to their organising of local council coups and of course their support of others and their art making, and for taking the time required to let the remarkable happen, it is for all this and more that we honour them with this years Lofty.
The ongoing legacy that Maria and Mike embed is to be treasured and learnt from, and while they never ask for recognition of this nature the fact is that that they have already earnt the respect and deep admiration of so many of us, it’s time that this community says we see you, we value you and what you have made and make possible, and we thank you. By sharing a vision, commitment and initials, the MGs are inspirational in their collective achievements, humility and lived expression of this place we call home. We - including those beyond Watch This Space - have all been touched by their gentle, creative and insightful light.
We'll end with words from the final nominator who has moved to eastern shores, Craig San Roque;
“This year; the Lofty is a vote for endurance
a vote for enduring creative partnership
it's a vote acknowledging true dedication to all living beings of Central Australia
it is a vote acknowledging the enduring webwork of this mixed and mixed up community of all kinds of souls
it’s a vote that says 'YES' to the quieter half
it’s a vote that says 'YES' to tireless revolutionary commitment to you and you and to you..
it’s a vote for a Lofty that stands on solid ground.
Bless Mparntwe
and all who stumble fall and thrive here.”
— Full excerpt from Elliat Rich and James Young’s Lofty Announcement speech, 25 November 2023.
