art is a risky business and sometimes
risque it's the capacity to shock which
has drawn the ire of Hobart's Lord Mayor
I think it's time now to put the brakes
on it's becoming I think personally the
the the shock festival it's so bad it's
not mobile in response to the mayor's
threat to withdraw council funding
Mona owner David Walsh said in a
statement we started as an attempt to
spice up diversity with audacity it
isn't about being cross about crosses
and if we acquiesce to curatorial
influence and become tame the festival
will die in three years so the money
will be irrelevant from creative
director Lee Carmichael it's deeply
concerning when community leaders
attempt to censor ash with sheep threats
to cut funds it's an interesting comment
to make at a time when when your city
has the sort of national limelight
shining on it premier will Hodgman
admits the festival does challenge and
confront we all need to be mindful of
people's mixed views on this issue but
when it comes to a return on investment
not only economically but also socially
I think it's great art has to ask
difficult questions and it will test the
boundaries there was a time when the
Christian Church dominated all knowledge
and all art and those days are over
dark my foe is a boon for tasmania's
economy with an estimated return of
around 50 million dollars winter was
traditionally a dead zone for tourism
now the festival draws crowds from
across the country to embrace winter
just from Melbourne for a couple of days
and just down to say a few of the trendy
and slightly weird things that dark my
folks might offer I'm from Sydney
basically just came for dark no food
well I'm from Brisbane I came down to
her about to see a few bands I'm from
Melbourne and he's a duck boy food and
having a great time so far we can
what do you think about it it's fun as
you jump in the water make a food writer
suh die sentences people including
Tasmanians think differently about the
state thanks to Mona it's exciting
whereas it never had that stereotype
before it was years ago like when I was
young it was more of a joke
Tasmania it's not that now she's
mystified by the comments of the Lord
Mayor and believe dark mofo is a gift to
the city's businesses I know of two
places who last weekend told me that
they had their busiest nights ever as
the festival wraps up this weekend the
controversy appears to be having no
impact on its ability to draw a crowd
early ward ABC News
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