Sosefina Fuamoli (Host) Sweet. Right, I've just hit record on my end. What immediately comes to mind when I say Paul Gauguin?
Angela Tiatia Argh!
Caroline Vercoe Gauguin has just such a compelling story that often I think Gauguin’s story has become bigger even than he was.
Elizabeth Childs There's over a century of fantasy about the Pacific that's going into the minds of people in France and in Britain by the time of Gauguin. And there's a lot of myths that are handed down. Some of them are about beauty. Some of them are about nature. Some of them are about sexuality and women.
Ashley Remer I have absolutely every confidence in calling him a paedophile. That to me is not a debate. The reputation of dead artists seems to be almost bulletproof, because the art world is very, very good at closing ranks and protecting their investments.
Sosefina Fuamoli Earlier this year, I got a phone call from the National Gallery of Australia. I’ve never had that before. I'm not from the art world. I'm a journalist. But they said that's kind of the point, that it's time for some new perspectives, some Pacific Islander perspectives. They told me they’re putting on an exhibition Gauguin’s World: Tōna Iho, Tōna Ao, which loosely translates to 'his true world, his true self'. And they were like, look, there's no hiding from the fact that Gauguin is a problematic guy. But we think a podcast could go deep in a way the exhibition can't. So do you want to make one for us? I had to think about it. I don't love old mate Gauguin – not many Islanders do – but I also don't think ‘cancel culture’ has been very effective. So I went online to see what people are saying about him. And the question everyone is asking is, Can you loathe an artist and still love their art? But then I found this quote from Gauguin himself: 'The art of that man explains that man'. This dilemma actually felt exciting to me, so I agreed to do the podcast and the Gallery connected me with a producer and said, basically, take this story wherever it needs to go. And we ended up going places that none of us expected.
