I am working on a commission for a friend in Canberra. I have been dyeing the fabric and now have to d a lot of tieing and folding. So whilst I was waiting for dye to take I made some of these embroidered cards. They are tifaifai about 7.5 inches square and stitched onto moon paper that is A4 size- they are meant for framing. I used to make a lot of these when I was still part of a group that rented a craft space at the Metro Craft Centre ( the Meatmarket) before it was shut down by the then so-called arts conscious kennet government.Alas another avenue closed.
And then last night watching the news( I have not been watching news lately as it makes me so annoyed) I saw that the ceo of the National Bank has given himself a pay rise and he now earns $57,000 per week-I am lucky to earn a third of that in a year. There is something really really wrong in a society when one person can earn what seems an obscene amount of money and the next can earn so little ( and I am lucky that I do earn there are those who don't through illness, disabilty, age or unsuitability)- I wonder how much harder he works to make that much difference? I wonder if he spends all that money on buying art or anything made by the hands of people? What does this man really do for Australia- does he add to its cultural capital, does he add one iota to the fullness of people's lives ( other than the shareholders) does he contribute to the happiness of anyone?I wonder if he ever volunteers for anything - like the CFA or the Neighbourhood house or his childrens school, or his community, does he spend a couple of hours cooking at sausage sizzles to raise a few hundred dollars for some community initiative?Sorry for the rant, it just seemed like such an obscene amount of money when so many are doing it so tough and some won't have anyhting at Christmas not even food.
5 comments:
I cannot remember who said it, but I agree with the proposal that no one person should earn more than seven times what the least paid person in the business earns.
My favourite rant is about folks who get a golden goodbye when they have screwed up. It's a different world these folks live in, but come the apocolypse, it's the creative practical ones who will flourish.
Are you still going ahead with your online classes? After reading your comment about design on Felicity's blog I was thinking it would be an excellent subject for such a venture.
I agree!! And things will become worse with the new IR laws. A few individuals will be in a position to hold companies to ransom and the rest of us will be left with the crumbs. The NAB is a classic example, with a history of sacking thousands at the low end and paying executives exhorbiant amounts. An aquaintance of mine was on a 6 figure salary with them - straight out of uni.
Claire
I totally agree! Footballers salaries are the ones that anger me. Supposedly they get this amount of money to cover the short careers but many make more out of sponsorship, commnentating and other things (Hello! magazine spreads!)when they retire. They very rarely do any charitable deeds. Obscene is exactly the right word. I read the ambulance man's blog too. Saving people's lifes doesn't count for much either. The world is a screwy place!
P.S - thanks for the link I'm honoured! Hope you will bring some quilts to Kuwait (and hope I'm still here then!)
I love your tifaifai - how did you make them so intricate and so small? Really lovely and so similar to our Hawaiian quilts. Aloha!
We were just talking about that same subject---what could one person-no matter how clever--do to earn that amount of money? How can a bank, car company or anyone justify hundreds of millions of dollars to one man? Each year? And the rest of us just want work that is good and health benefits. When did the world go crazy????
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