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Anniversaries are particularly special occasions.
We are at once encouraged to reflect on the past, build on the present and
consider the future. The 30th anniversary of Melbourne Festival is such an
occasion. It has prompted me to reflect first on my own brief involvement,
but more importantly on the Festival’s place in our State’s history.
When I refer to my ‘brief involvement’, it is brief only in the formal
sense. Personally, I have been ‘involved’, that is as an audience member,
since the very beginning. In the course of 30 years, I have experienced
exquisite highs, when I have been transported to an artistic nirvana by
a sublime act or artist. I have also experienced the odd memorable low,
during which I tried to remember what possessed me to push my own
boundaries a little too far. Mind you, the latter has always been amply
compensated by the number of times I did deliberately extend my horizons,
and was grateful for a new and truly transformative experience.
It was only in 2013 that I became a Melbourne Festival board
member. Since then I have also had the privilege to serve as the President
and am now the Patron in Chief. What an honour it has been to take up
those roles and to see the Festival from the inside out, as it were.
I have gained a new perspective through these experiences. I have
seen the machine behind the Festival offerings, the engine room filled
with devoted and hard-working staff, the inspiring leadership and flair of
the Artistic Directors, and the shared drive to achieve so much within the
constraints of time and funds that commonly confront an annual festival.
So, I personally have much to reflect on during this important
anniversary, but what is paramount is the Festival’s impact on our community.
This anniversary prompts us to reflect on how the Festival fits, not only within
the State’s artistic calendar, but also within its psyche. Thirty continuous
years. Such an achievement. Riding the highs and lows, the fashions and the
debates of an artistic ferment of more than a whole generation.
How do you measure that sort of achievement? There are, of course,
the numbers. How many millions of people have attended events. How
many tourists have been drawn to Melbourne. How many people have been
employed. How much the economy has been stimulated as a result.
Then there are the immeasurable contributions made to a place
and its people by a fulsome and healthy arts menu. The stimulation. The
provocation. The beauty. The mirror into the human condition. The nuanced
emotions. The pure joy and, of course, the entertainment.
On behalf of the people of Victoria, I congratulate Melbourne Festival
on its 30 years of achievement to date. And we can all look forward to what
the next 30 years might hold.
The Hon. Linda Dessau AM
Governor of Victoria