Leunig: the Holy Fool to speak at SWF

Kicking off next week on May 19, the Sydney Writers’ Festival (SWF) is a celebration of writing that challenges and provokes, so it comes as no surprise to see the name of Australia’s favourite cartoonist and moral philosopher, Michael Leunig, on the program.

Unafraid to broach the most controversial topics, from warmongering to politics, Mr Leunig has gently prodded Australia’s collective consciousness for more than four decades.

Mr Leunig started his career in the Whitlam years, working alongside the likes of Germaine Greer and Phillip Adams, at the Nation Review. Popular amongst urban intellectuals, the alternative Sunday newspaper had a reputation for bold, left-of-centre journalism.

SWF artistic director, Jemma Birrell, is thrilled to have Mr Leunig on the program.

“He is one of Australia’s greatest cultural commentators. I have always admired his ability to pinpoint the social issue of the day, and explain it with humour and insight. He knows how to shake up the frequency and make his audience think outside the boundaries,” she said.

Beyond his cartoon work, Mr Leunig also has a penchant for painting and poetry. His latest book, Holy Fool, is a collection of 240 paintings. Mr Leunig distinguishes these paintings from his cartoons as a more spontaneous and primal expression of his sensibility.

“The contemporary art world in Australia is very media and fashion driven. It tends to be overly cerebral and intellectualised, making it too constricted, too supervised, too judged, too political or unnatural and, ultimately incoherent and alienating.

“The book is a plug for a freer, more open and organic, less fashion-conscious or less political way forward — not just in the art world, but in society at large,” Mr Leunig said.

Drawing on an old religious concept, the Holy Fool is one who deliberately flouts social conventions to serve a sacred purpose. This spirit of playful subversion permeates all of Mr Leunig’s work.

“For me, the Holy Fool is the unassuming childlike adult who sincerely and innocently speaks outrageous truths,” the artist explained.

“When the emperor stood naked, it was the child who unashamedly stated the obvious truth that nobody dared utter. That quality of frank, almost embarrassing, naivety is not only refreshing, it is a licence to upturn repressive conventions or taboos, mindless conservatism and stale cultural habits.”

In addition to his sold-out Holy Fool session at the Writers’ Festival, Mr Leunig will participate in two panel discussions: The Art of Indignation on May 24 and The Land of the Fair Go or No Go: Has Australia Lost its Soul? on May 25.