Sports broadcaster and columnist Kelli Underwood and senior arts writer Karl Quinn presented the keynote speeches at The Age’s Melbourne Assembly forum, moderated by Waleed Aly, on the topic, “Sport v the Arts: What is the true heart of Melbourne?”
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What → present → Melbourne
Below is an edited excerpt of Underwood’s speech.
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excerpt → edit → speech
I can win this debate with just three words: Sport is art.
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Sport → win → words
And Melbourne does it better than anywhere else in the world.
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Melbourne → do → world
Let me explain.
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me → let → ?
I’m not a suave, cultured arts writer (like my good friend, Karl); I’m a sports broadcaster.
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I → ’m → friend
But even I know there are seven major art forms: music, painting, architecture, literature, theatre, film and sculpture.
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I → know → ?
Let’s start with music.
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’s → let → music
And what about when a player is sprinting down the wing and a Rioli sets chase, lunging horizontally through the air like Superman, and lands a desperate tug on the opponent’s guernsey and pulls the player to ground?
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Rioli → sprint → ground
There’s a pause while our hearts are in our mouths.
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hearts → ’ → mouths
It fills my heart.
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It → fill → heart
The best art award in Australia would have to be the Archibald, generally seen as the most prestigious portrait prize in the country.
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award → have → country
Of course, sport has won it.
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sport → win → it
It shows Vincent hand in hand with Goodes, before iconic images of Adam’s war dance and his re-enactment of Nicky Winmar lifting his jumper.
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Winmar → show → jumper
What makes this even more special is that this portrait was the first by an Aboriginal artist to win the Archibald, in 2020, the prize’s 99th year.
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portrait → make → 2020
Good design makes you feel at home and provides a sense of belonging.
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you → make → belonging
Name me a building that does it better than the MCG.
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that → name → MCG
And name me a better urban landscape than the Melbourne Formula One Grand Prix track at Albert Park, the best track in the world for the fastest cars to race.
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cars → name → world
When it comes to storytelling and expressing ideas through the written language, it doesn’t get any better than Age columnist Caroline Wilson.
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it → come → Wilson
I think we all agree, we look forward to buying The Saturday Age during the footy season just so we can sit down with an exquisite Melbourne coffee and read the latest Caro article.
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we → think → article
Spending my Saturdays with her insights in my head is what I’d describe as my own little piece of paradise amid work prep, weekend chores, kids’ demands and social engagements.
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I → spend → prep
Our Fox Footy crew doesn’t miss a beat.
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crew → miss → beat
Defined [by Encyclopedia Britannica] as “an art concerned almost exclusively with live performances in which the action is precisely planned to create a coherent and significant sense of drama”.
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action → define → drama
That is precisely what happens at the ’G every weekend of the footy season.
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what → happen → season
Or Sam Kerr scoring a late winner for the Matildas at AAMI Park?
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Kerr → score → Park
Live sport is the best theatre because we don’t know the ending.
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we → know → ending
We attend the sporting theatre full of excitement and anticipation; we don’t know if we’ll feel joy, relief, anger, heartbreak; maybe if we’re lucky, all of the above in one evening.
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we → attend → evening
Theatre can also encompass comedy and tragedy.
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Theatre → encompass → comedy
Fremantle playing “Wharfie Time” in the grand final when they were 17 points up, with four minutes to play, and thinking they had it in the bag.
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they → play → bag
Maybe, it’s more of a tragedy.
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it → ’ → tragedy
I was a bit stuck on this one, so I sent my good mate, Waleed Aly, a text.
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I → send → text
I typed, “Sculpture is a form of art.
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Sculpture → type → art
What’s the sporting equivalent?”
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equivalent → ’ → ?
He shot back.
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He → shoot → ?
Then this text followed: “Those rippling muscles, powerful quads, and that chiselled jawline, not to mention those artistic tattoos
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text → follow → ?
Dusty’s sculpture needs to become a bronzed statue out the front of the MCG.”
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sculpture → need → MCG
I believe my job is a form of art.
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job → believe → art
The first time I walked into a commentary box, I likened it to an orchestra.
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I → walk → orchestra
It had this energy and excitement that I was instantly drawn to.
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I → have → that
When I was first invited into the 3AW AFL commentary box by Rex Hunt 20 years ago, I was struck by how each person had a role.
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person → invite → role
…and 41 more, not listed.
The Aporia
