As the Arts Foundation Te Tumu Toi reveals Dame Jane Campion, Fatu Feu'u ONZM and Dame Robin White as recipients of their Icon Awards, general manager Jessica Palalagi reflects on what the honour means - and how it’s determined.
I don’t know if I’ve ever come across anything quite like the Icon Awards Whakamana Hiranga. It’s an interesting concept – a living circle of 20 of New Zealand’s most significant artists.
When one passes on, we award another. It could sound morbid, but somehow it's not. It’s more about creating a lineage of artists over years, and across disciplines. It’s about now, but it’s also about the past, and the future.
If people think about New Zealand, they think about the All Blacks (and sheep). But they also think about The Lord of the Rings - Sir Peter Jackson was awarded an Icon in 2011! They think about Sam Neill. Because that’s what our most significant artists do: they shape our identity. They change how we see ourselves, and in turn how we are seen on a world stage.
And on a personal level, their work informs our sense of place in the world. I’ve been in love with Hone Tūwhare’s poem since I was a teenager. And then you have artists like Margaret Mahy, or Joy Cowley… the voices in our heads since childhood.
There are also Icons I’ve never heard of – which is a good thing, because we want to be representative of the diversity within the arts. It’s not discipline driven, which is unusual and I think a huge part of what makes it so meaningful.
The three Icons we’re awarding this year have a perspective of New Zealand and New Zealanders that is so unique. Artists have a tendency (whether they mean to or not) to bring themselves into their work – and that is very much the case for these three.
Dame Robin makes us think about the landscapes and people that make up our country, and most recently the meaning of collaboration – and what it can look like in different stages of your life and work.
Fatu’s story is one of many as an immigrant, and his works speaks to broadening our Pacific Perspective (sometimes we forget we’re in the Pacific!).
When you look at old clips of Jane, the lone woman in a sea of male filmmakers, you are reminded of just the tenacity and grit she had possessed to make the work she believed in.
And now, at the later stages of their careers, they’re all doing work to progress us outside of their creative pursuits – like Jane kicking off her film school A Wave in the Ocean, a popup intensive course for New Zealand’s emerging film directing talent and Fatu being the patron of both Tautai Charitable Trust helping young Pasifika artists and the Fred Hollows Foundation.
It’s not just about being household names – each of these artists are finding ways to sustain and fuel creativity in Aotearoa in a way that will live beyond their work.
As you can imagine, selecting an Icon is no easy feat. In many ways, it’s a similar process to selecting our Arts Foundation Laureates. We have a shortlist of people who have been put forward before, but not selected. We put the panel together – the Icon panel is a little different in that it has to include a Patron, this year it was Dame Patsy Reddy. We also have a Laureate – this year Don McGlashan – and our artist trustees (Anne Noble, Tanea Heke, and Warwick Freeman). We also have our chair, Garth Gallaway, there to facilitate and guide the debate.
Everyone brings their own shortlist, and pitches them alongside the shortlist provided. Then the battle ensues – and the panel takes turns advocating for each person based on the criteria provided.
For the artists themselves, receiving the honour seems to bring up mixed feelings. They recognise the significance, but it can be quite overwhelming. I think ultimately it makes you zoom out a bit – there is an overarching universe thing happening.
It gives you pause for reflection; like, how did I get here? Who got me here? It drives home that you are a moment in time. That you are being passed the baton, and that you will in some moment pass it on to someone else.
For us, it’s not at all about marking the end of a career. In fact, the opposite – it means we see you. Keep going. Our hope is that the award is another milestone that signifies how far you’ve come, and how deeply that impact is felt.
