Exhibition : Soft Power
Span Galleries 45 Flinders Lane, Melbourne
2 - 20 March 2004

Jam Factory, Contemporary Craft and Design Centre, Adelaide.
2 October - 14 November 2004

Our Leaders Tomorrow’s Heroes
Our Leaders are tomorrow’s Heroes

Humans have always needed heroes to deify or destroy, as all-powerful causes for success or as scapegoats for failure. Children are brought up on tales of warriors, outlaws, and martyrs. For many people, the word Hero, itself still evokes images of battle – images of Generals – tales of solitary heroism. More often than not though, our history is constructed on myths and stories of the ‘individual’, yet real power and the ultimate ‘hero’ is founded in community.

Heroes are people who give of their lives, in honour of noble causes… working for the community.

"We think of the Eureka Stockade and we think of Peter Lalor. Gallipoli is symbolised for us by the story of Simpson and his donkey. Changi is Weary Dunlop’s story. It’s the reason that Olympic team sports never quite capture the public imagination in the same way as the lone sprinter. Whether it is a story of triumph or defeat – our stories tend to focus around the individual"
Steve Bracks, the launch of Leadership Week.

Soft Power engages this motivation, suggesting that the fundamental role of Leadership is not about the singular, in the broad sense – Leadership enables the community. Horton believes that people, working together, have the power to make positive change to a better future through awareness, understanding and action. We lead by example; how we live our lives and how we make our journeys. These are the inspirations underlying Soft Power’s hero plate series. The 100 suspended Hero plaster plates find a common language that link ‘hero’ to ‘leader’. In turn, each of the nine gifting plates represents a quality of leadership – an essential component of the makeup of Hero. How do we engage our stories, our experiences and connect with the next generation. For Horton, Soft Power is a juxtaposition of simple forms with minimal colour that entice the voyeur into a space open in nature with clearly defined objects which express clarify, beauty and grace.

Gifting Plates
Size: 7 cm h x 44 d cm.  
Material: Kiln cast lead crystal.

Hero Plate
Size: 2.5 cm x 17.5 cm in diameter. 
Material: glass murrine embedded in plaster

All photographs by David McArthur.

Opening night speech by Dr Helen Light, Director Jewish Museum of Australia

Click on an image to see a larger version.