Cate Blanchett and her fellow 2020 Summit Creative Stream members have thrown their weight behind embattled artist Bill Henson.
In a passionate open letter, the delegates have expressed their outrage at Henson's "trial by media" over his controversial Sydney exhibition which featured photographs of naked children.
"As members of the Creative Stream of the Australia 2020 Summit, we wish to express our dismay at the police raid on Bill Henson's recent Sydney exhibition, the allegations that he is a child pornographer, and the subsequent reports that he and others may be charged with obscenity," the letter says.
"The potential prosecution of one of our most respected artists is no way to build a Creative Australia, and does untold damage to our cultural reputation."
The letter, which was written by Melbourne poet Alison Croggon and also signed by Triple J regular Marieke Hardy and law professor Larissa Behrendt, encourages public debate on Henson's work. But it warns authorities that any charges may open a can of worms.
"If an example is made of Bill Henson, one of Australia’s most prominent artists, it is hard to believe that those who have sought to bring these charges will stop with him," the letter says.
"Rather, this action will encourage a repressive climate of hysterical condemnation, backed by the threat of prosecution."
More than 20 photographs by Henson were seized from a Sydney gallery last Friday after police received complaints about images of a naked boy, 12, and girl, 13.
No charges have yet been laid.
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