A motion in favour of a Senate Inquiry into the establishment of a National Programme for Excellence in the Arts has been passed. What more can be done by those artists and arts organisations lobbying against unpopular changes to arts funding?
The ambivalence which with artists have viewed the Australia Council needs to be put aside.
Alvaro Tapia
Momentum continues to build in the Australian art community’s response to changes to arts funding in last month’s budget. Is it now time for artists to consider direct action?
The evidence of cultural consumption and production in Australia does not bear out the claims made by Senator Brandis.
AAP Image/Mick Tsikas
What is the premise of recently-announced cuts to Australia Council funding, and the establishment of a National Programme for Excellence in the Arts? There is actually a considerable evidence base from which to form policy decisions in Australian arts funding.
Gary Foley has been driven by a lifelong project of sharpening his own intellect, realising the political force behind ideas and sharing them with others.
Gary Foley
Tonight Gary Foley will be awarded the Red Ochre Award for his lifetime contribution to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander arts. He is a more complicated figure than the one we are sometimes presented with.
The overhaul of arts funding has left the sector in shock – with many looking for clues as to how George Brandis’ new arts funding body with work in practice.
Tom_Allan/Flickr
The arts sector has been shocked by cuts to the Australia Council – but details about the new National Program for Excellence in the Arts are in short supply. What do we know about George Brandis’s vision for the arts?
The move away from arms-length funding represents a fundamental shift in the way arts funding will be administered.
Lukas Coch/AAP Image
Since the foundation of the Australia Council arts funding has been administered at arms length. The fine print of this year’s Budget is set to change that.
Will changes support good artistic practice? (Pic shows Intrude by Amanda Parer).
AAP Image/Junction Arts Festival, Tim Jones PR.
Last month the Australia Council announced a new strategic plan and approach to arts funding. As the sector comes to terms with what these changes may mean, it seems that there are more challenges to come…
The Liberal government didn’t need a fully-functioning cultural policy at the last election.
AAP Image/Alan Porritt
As with other emissions of choice opacity – horoscopes, Bible stories, RBA economic forecasts – cultural policy announcements invite construal of their mystical meaning. Nothing is quite as it seems. On…
With the release of its strategic plan the Australia Council will sing from a new songsheet - but the finer details are far from clear.
AAP Image/Paul Miller
The Australia Council made two significant announcements this week. The first was the launch of its Strategic Plan and the second was a new Grants Model. The external review of the Australia Council, conducted…
The recommendation made by the Commission of Audit to merge Screen Australia and the Australia Council is yet another example of this government’s policy incoherence. Locked into belligerent opposition…
The history of arts funding in Australia suggests the “arm’s length” principle is worth preserving.
wallyg/ Artist: OverUnder, Brooklyn
Things to remember if you are a federal minister for the arts: In arts policy, as in the arts, how you do things matters as much as what you do. Good ideas become bad ideas if your tone is wrong or you…
Honorary (Senior Fellow) School of Culture and Communication University of Melbourne. Editor in Chief, Design and Art of Australia Online, The University of Melbourne