tag:theconversation.com,2011:/us/topics/art-funding-5145/articlesArt Funding – The Conversation2016-08-22T06:03:21Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/641592016-08-22T06:03:21Z2016-08-22T06:03:21ZThe price of victory: comparing the cost of Olympic gold to an elite arts prize<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/134912/original/image-20160822-18708-1udy3mi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Mark Mangini (left) and David White hold this year's Oscar for Sound Editing for Mad Max: Fury Road.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Paul Buck/EPA</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>The Olympics is almost over now for another four years, and beyond the glorious highs and heartbreaking lows of participants and spectators, there’s the ritual of the cost-benefit wash-up where we calculate the public cost per medal, and collectively wring our hands at the expense of it all.</p>
<p>For Australia, that cost will be about <a href="http://www.news.com.au/sport/olympics/is-australias-disastrous-olympic-campaign-really-340-million-well-spent/news-story/b6d9d7211136bbc8309939e42ec6e471">A$12 million</a> per medal. This is the cost of funding the federal contribution to Olympic preparation, largely through the <a href="http://corporate.olympics.com.au/the-aoc/programs-and-funding">Australian Institute of Sport</a> ($380m) divided by the number of medals won (29). (Compare the 58 medals won at the Sydney games.) But when you factor in state and local government spending, the cost could be as high as <a href="http://thenewdaily.com.au/sport/rio-olympics-2016/2016/08/19/rio-medals-australia/">$20m</a> per medal. </p>
<p>All countries go through this ritual. Even after a highly successful Olympics, the British are wondering whether it’s really worth spending <a href="http://www.independent.co.uk/voices/rio-2016-team-gb-olympic-medals-55m-each-can-we-justify-brits-slump-sofa-a7198906.html">£5.5m</a> per medal.</p>
<p>The economic argument is, of course, whether these public funds might be better spent elsewhere; say on children’s hospitals. But in a sense that’s not a fair comparison, because Olympic support will always look bad next to sick children or other essential priorities. </p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/134914/original/image-20160822-18708-14sdfw6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/134914/original/image-20160822-18708-14sdfw6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/134914/original/image-20160822-18708-14sdfw6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=423&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/134914/original/image-20160822-18708-14sdfw6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=423&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/134914/original/image-20160822-18708-14sdfw6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=423&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/134914/original/image-20160822-18708-14sdfw6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=532&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/134914/original/image-20160822-18708-14sdfw6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=532&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/134914/original/image-20160822-18708-14sdfw6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=532&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">Chloe Esposito competes on her horse Equador Itapua in the modern pentathalon, where she won gold.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Edgard Garrido/Reuters</span></span>
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<p>So let’s compartmentalise and allow that this public money is already earmarked to support elite Australian performance on the ultra-competitive world stage. A better and more interesting comparison isn’t between elite sports and sick children, but between elite sports and elite culture.</p>
<p>What’s the comparable cost-per-medal for Australia’s elite artists and cultural producers, who also compete on world stages? And do Australia’s artists perform comparatively better or worse than our athletes? We decided to find out.</p>
<h2>The parameters</h2>
<p>We limited our investigation to just a few of the major cultural domains – music, film, books, and videogames – and then examined every major internationally recognised and widely known award, including the Cannes Film Festival, Academy Awards and BAFTA for film, the Grammy and BRIT Awards for music, the Man Booker Prize and the Nobel prize for literature, and the Game Awards for videogames. </p>
<p>The idea was to compile a suite of awards comparable to the Olympics, with most major artists represented. In order to compare the full Olympics medal count, we’ve considered nominations to be the equivalent of silver or bronze medals. </p>
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<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/134913/original/image-20160822-18731-axpowb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/134913/original/image-20160822-18731-axpowb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/134913/original/image-20160822-18731-axpowb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/134913/original/image-20160822-18731-axpowb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/134913/original/image-20160822-18731-axpowb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/134913/original/image-20160822-18731-axpowb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/134913/original/image-20160822-18731-axpowb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Tame Impala, who won Best International Group at the BRIT awards.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Tracey Nearmy/AAP</span></span>
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<p>A few issues complicate this analysis. One is the obvious skew toward English language representation. Another is that unlike sports, where competitors match-up on the day, arts awards are often for work actually done in previous years or earlier. </p>
<p>We considered awards just for two years – 2015 and 2016 – as unlike the Olympics, most major arts and cultural awards are annual. Obviously, we only then consider annual public funding too.</p>
<p>There is also the problem that Australian public funding for the arts and culture is less targeted than sports funding, so we’ve had to make some assumptions to arrive at a comparable quantum of federal funding that is directed toward elite arts and culture on a global stage.</p>
<p>The main vehicles for federal funding of the four cultural sectors we focus on are Screen Australia and the Australia Council. (Both organisations fund cultural activities that go way beyond our scope as in addition to their support of elite culture, they also invest in the development of young talent; initiatives intended to increase cultural diversity; and other cultural sectors and types than the ones that are in our scope.)</p>
<p>In total, the two organisations report funding of just over $300m, of which we generously estimate about half could be considered to support elite cultural production (i.e. of internationally recognised quality). We also added in tax incentives for big budget screen productions (like <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1392190/">Mad Max: Fury Road</a> (2015)). Total government support for the four sectors amounts to $273m in 2015 and $382m in 2014.</p>
<p>If you accept these approximations, here’s what we find. </p>
<h2>The results</h2>
<p>First, music and films are the swimming of Australian elite culture. Sia Furler is one of Australia’s most internationally commercially successful musicians, and was nominated for MTV Video Awards in 2015 and 2016. In 2016 she was nominated for a BRIT Award in the category International Female Solo Artist. </p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/134911/original/image-20160822-18737-1nb7cv6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/134911/original/image-20160822-18737-1nb7cv6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/134911/original/image-20160822-18737-1nb7cv6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/134911/original/image-20160822-18737-1nb7cv6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/134911/original/image-20160822-18737-1nb7cv6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/134911/original/image-20160822-18737-1nb7cv6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/134911/original/image-20160822-18737-1nb7cv6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/134911/original/image-20160822-18737-1nb7cv6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">Sia performing in Hungary this month.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Balazs Mohai/EPA</span></span>
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<p>Another successful Australian musician is Courtney Barnett, who in 2016 was nominated for a Grammy Award in the Best New Artist category, and a BRIT Award in the International Solo Female Artist award. </p>
<p>We also have 5 Seconds of Summer; a band that has been nominated and won several prestigious international music awards along with Australian acts such as Tame Impala, Hiatus Kaiyote, Keith Urban, Nicholas Milton, Chet Faker and Iggy Azalea (who we count as Australian although she moved to the US when she was 16).</p>
<p>Australia also excels in the film category. Over the two years we looked at the Academy Awards, The BAFTA Awards, The Cannes International Film Festival and The Golden Globe Award, the awards and nominations for Australian productions were dominated by Max Max: Fury Road. </p>
<p>The Australian production won <a href="https://theconversation.com/what-do-mad-maxs-six-oscars-mean-for-the-australian-film-industry-55564">six Academy Awards</a>, was nominated for an additional four and did almost equally well in the BRIT Awards by winning four awards and being nominated in another three categories. Other Australian productions or Australian artists that were awarded or nominated are Cate Blanchett for her work in <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2402927/">Carol</a> (2015) and Animal Logic for <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1490017/">The Lego Movie</a> (2014).</p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/134916/original/image-20160822-18711-1vi78ej.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/134916/original/image-20160822-18711-1vi78ej.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/134916/original/image-20160822-18711-1vi78ej.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/134916/original/image-20160822-18711-1vi78ej.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/134916/original/image-20160822-18711-1vi78ej.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/134916/original/image-20160822-18711-1vi78ej.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/134916/original/image-20160822-18711-1vi78ej.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/134916/original/image-20160822-18711-1vi78ej.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">Cate Blanchett at the BAFTAs this year.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Jake Saville/Newzulu</span></span>
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<p>Australia does okay on books and literature (we included the Nobel Prize, Pulitzer Prize, Man Booker Prize and the Neustadt Awards), but did less well in our sample years. Australian author Richard Flanagan was nominated for a Man Booker award in 2014. And we have only won one Nobel Prize for literature (two if you count J M Coetzee). Helen Garner also won a Windham-Campbell Prize for Non-fiction in 2016, but this prize is so recently established we decided not to include it in our study. </p>
<p>Video games are somewhat contentious to locate (we included The Game Awards, British Academy Games Awards, Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences and Prix Ars Electronica). We decided to include the video game <a href="http://www.monumentvalleygame.com/">Monument Valley</a>, which received numerous awards and nominations in 2015. Its lead designer, Australian Ken Wong, works for game developer Ustwo in London and Sydney, and Britain would perhaps have as much right to claim those awards as Australia.</p>
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<p>In total, Australian productions and creatives received 82 award wins plus nominations (the equivalent of gold, silver and bronze) during the two years. In these cultural Olympics, the average “cost” of a medal is approximately $8m.</p>
<p>This compares to the cost of an Olympic medal in Rio, which clocks in at roughly $12m. </p>
<p>Now <a href="http://www.essentialvision.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/Essential-Report_160816.pdf">a majority of Australians</a> believe public Olympic funding support is about right or should even be increased. And proponents also point to the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Externality">externalities</a> that accrue, including Olympic success benefiting sporting activities on a grass root level and general public health; improved cultural cohesion; and strengthening Australia’s brand overseas. But similar claims also are made about elite cultural funding.</p>
<p>If we’re just concerned about the most economically efficient way of achieving these goals, then culture might actually be a better deal than sports.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/64159/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jason Potts receives funding from the Australia Research Council. He is affiliated with The Institute of Public Affairs. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Patrik Wikström receives funding from the Australian Research Council. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Stuart Cunningham receives funding from the Australian Research Council. </span></em></p>Amid the hand-wringing about the price of an Olympic medal, our experts crunched the numbers on the cost of success in the arts. And at A$8 million per international award, it turns out that elite culture is a lot better value than sport.Jason Potts, Professor of Economics, RMIT UniversityPatrik Wikström, Principal Research Fellow: Creative Industries Faculty, Queensland University of TechnologyStuart Cunningham, Director of the ARC Centre of Excellence for Creative Industries and Innovation, Queensland University of TechnologyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/593682016-05-13T03:29:36Z2016-05-13T03:29:36ZCarnage in the arts: experts respond to the Australia Council cuts<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/122418/original/image-20160513-5088-1jr5xof.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Deep funding cuts will affect Australia's entire arts ecology. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Ekke</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span></figcaption></figure><h2>A little soupçon of beauty?</h2>
<p><strong>Joanna Mendelssohn, Associate Professor, Art & Design: UNSW Australia</strong></p>
<p>There comes a time in the ancient Chinese lingering execution, lingchi or Death by a Thousand Cuts, when the prisoner begs for the final stroke to end the torture – and life. </p>
<p>The good news is that the latest round of Australia Council four year funding grants shows that it is not there yet. Some essential visual arts publications have had their four year funding renewed, as have some exhibition spaces with a fair national spread. </p>
<p>From looking at what has been funded (and from hearing the start of news of those who have been eliminated) there is a sense that the meeting of the board that signed off on these grants must have been a grim one indeed. The <a href="https://online.australiacouncil.gov.au/ords/f?p=113:1:0::NO:RP::">full list of grants</a> as announced by the Australia Council also gives access to the names of the assessors. Unlike the Ministry’s Catalyst program, decisions by the Australia Council are open and transparent.</p>
<p>There are some decisions that seem utterly inexplicable. Neither the Australian Centre for Photography (Sydney) nor the Centre for Contemporary Photography (Melbourne) have had funding renewed. Is there a bias against organisations concerned with one particular medium? </p>
<p>With two exceptions, exhibition spaces devoted to the broad spectrum of contemporary art have their funding continued, so Artpsace (Sydney), ACCA (Melbourne), the Institute of Modern Art (Brisbane), Perth’s Institute of Contemporary Arts, Hobart’s Salamanca Arts Centre are all safe. </p>
<p>The exceptions are both in Adelaide: the Contemporary Art Centre of South Australia and Australian Experimental Art Foundation. CACSA is the publisher of Broadsheet which is often the first place young art writers are published. Another outlet for young writers, Express Media, has also lost its funding.</p>
<p>It is not a good look that the national arts advocacy organisation, NAVA, which is also a significant source of information on artists’ rights, has lost its funding. The Australian Design Centre has also lost funding.</p>
<p>The Australia Council’s careful management of severely limited funding has meant that some of the essential engines that enable art to be exhibited, performed and published may well just die anyway. Those that survive will be increasingly dependent on private philanthropy. </p>
<p>This may well be in sympathy with a government that likes its arts to be delightfully subservient, existing only to add a little soupçon of beauty to an otherwise dull and corporate life. </p>
<p>However those who understand that the creative arts are at their essence intertwined with creating knowledge and understanding see this as a further degradation of Australia’s intellectual capital. </p>
<p>It’s hardly “the most exciting time” to be in an Australia run by a government that is deliberately dumbing down its people.</p>
<h2>What is the rationale behind these cuts?</h2>
<p><strong>Jo Caust, associate professor of cultural policy and arts leadership, University of Melbourne</strong></p>
<p>The arts sector in Australia is in turmoil and confusion. Early last week it was announced that 75 arts groups had received funding from <a href="https://theconversation.com/where-is-the-balance-and-credibility-in-our-federal-governments-arts-policy-58485">the new Catalyst fund</a>. Later, another 45 grants were announced. Some of the earlier recipients received two lots of funding for different projects.</p>
<p>Several recipients received more than the stated upper limit for grants (A$500,000), including Circa Contemporary Circus (A$840,000), The Australian Ballet (A$1,000,000), the National Library of Australia (A$660,000), and the Heysen House (A$1,000,000). </p>
<p>Companies such as Kage Theatre (A$130,000) in Victoria and Brink in South Australia (A$160,000) received money through the Catalyst Fund but have been defunded by the Australia Council. There are also Catalyst recipients who would not normally be included under this kind of funding – e.g. The Australian Ballet Centre. There is even the odd possibility that these groups received more than they actually applied for. </p>
<p>Early this week, the Australia Council released the results of a larger than normal project grant round. Several small to medium companies received project grants. There was, apparently, around a one in four chance of a company being funded. </p>
<p>But at the end of the week, the Australia Council informed numerous companies and organisations that they would no longer receive ongoing annual or triennial funding. It is amazing how quickly life can change. Eighteen months ago, these groups were being asked to apply for six year grants. </p>
<p>Some of those defunded organisations are of serious concern in terms of the intent of the cuts. For instance, funding was cut to both <a href="http://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/art-and-design/national-association-for-the-visual-arts-misses-out-on-four-year-funding-from-the-australia-council-20160513-gotzkg.html">the National Association for the Visual Arts</a> and the journal <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/media/2016/may/12/literary-magazine-meanjin-may-close-after-losing-australia-council-funding">Meanjin</a> – both places where alternative points of view to government policies have been expressed. <a href="https://au.news.yahoo.com/thewest/entertainment/a/31520868/arts-groups-sounds-funds-alarm/">NAVA</a> has played a national leadership role in organising protests against the Australia Council changes. What does this say about democracy?</p>
<p>The South Australian theatre scene in particular has received a mortal blow. Three theatre companies that have been at the forefront of artistic innovation have been defunded: <a href="http://www.adelaidenow.com.au/entertainment/arts/sa-theatre-companies-reeling-from-federal-australia-council-funding-chop/news-story/18bc5f86d92cb77aa4096ecd9f75801b">Brink, Slingsby and Vitalstatistix</a>. The latter is a women’s theatre company that promotes the work of female playwrights, actors, writers and directors. </p>
<p>Victoria’s Next Wave festival has lost its organisational funding. And even Polyglot Theatre, which has secured core funding from both the Australia Council and Catalyst, expressed “deep concern” for the long-term viability and diversity of the Australian arts sector, saying many peer companies that lost funding would be forced to close.</p>
<p>While some arts organisations are winning the arts funding lottery through the Catalyst Fund, others have been defunded by the Australia Council, as a result of the establishment of Catalyst. </p>
<p>Is the Australia Council using the Catalyst Fund as an excuse to offload some of its less popular clients? More importantly, has the Council taken the wisest course of action in the circumstances? There is a sense of shock in the arts sector. </p>
<p>What does all this say about the government’s approach to national arts policy? It appears there is no overall plan, vision, communication, transparency or fairness.</p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/122420/original/image-20160513-16438-dytz6b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/122420/original/image-20160513-16438-dytz6b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/122420/original/image-20160513-16438-dytz6b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/122420/original/image-20160513-16438-dytz6b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/122420/original/image-20160513-16438-dytz6b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/122420/original/image-20160513-16438-dytz6b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/122420/original/image-20160513-16438-dytz6b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/122420/original/image-20160513-16438-dytz6b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Blondinrikard Fröberg</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
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<h2>Policy confusion is destroying trust</h2>
<p><strong>Julian Meyrick, professor of creative arts, and Tully Barnett, research fellow, Flinders University</strong></p>
<p>This is not about money it’s about trust. The money is important, but in cultural policy, funding is first and foremost an expression of trust. </p>
<p>Because the arts don’t stand apart from society but are an integral part of it, they aren’t exempt from the political fluctuations that determine the allocation of public resources. Put brutally, sometimes companies lose their funding. Sometimes that has to be accepted.</p>
<p>But last year, the senate inquiry into the federal arts budget made it plain that the arts sector is an interdependent ecology. What we are seeing today goes far beyond the usual ups and downs of individual companies.</p>
<p>According to the Australia Council, <a href="https://www.australiacouncil.gov.au/news/media-centre/media-releases/australia-council-announces-112m-investment-over-four-years-in-small-to-medium-arts-organisations/">128 arts organisations have been notified of success</a> in the recent grant round. They will share $28 million through a four-year funding program. Thirty three per cent of those are new companies. We do not yet know the total number who applied. ArtsHub estimates <a href="http://www.artshub.com.au/news-article/news/grants-and-funding/deborah-stone/62-arts-organisations-lose-funding-from-australia-council-251271">62 companies have lost funding</a>. The Age <a href="http://www.theage.com.au/entertainment/art-and-design/arts-organisations-meanjin-and-centre-for-contemporary-photography-assess-their-future-as-australia-council-cuts-hit-home-20160512-gotxid.html">says up to 50</a>.</p>
<p>The Australia Council have stretched their dollars as far as they can go. And they have listened to the sector’s call to allow new arts companies into the funding pool.</p>
<p>But no amount of clearing out the spare change jar and reducing their own workforce can make up for the federal government’s indifference to culture. </p>
<p>And while the Council seem to have instituted the cuts evenly across the nation, some of the decisions are truly dismaying: Meanjin, RedStitch, NAVA, Vitalstatistix, Brink, Arena Theatre, Slingsby … These are important names in the arts ecology and their demise will have a profound and long-lasting effect.</p>
<p>In his recent Platform Paper, Monash University academic Justin O’Connor, using a beautiful metaphor by the composer Brian Eno, <a href="https://www.newsouthbooks.com.au/collections/may-2016-non-fiction/currency-press/">likened culture to a dance</a>. Regardless of who leads and who follows, the relationship between the arts sector and the government is one of hope and expectation, not rules and intimidation. It’s one of trust.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/122421/original/image-20160513-16438-hbxwf3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/122421/original/image-20160513-16438-hbxwf3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/122421/original/image-20160513-16438-hbxwf3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=196&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/122421/original/image-20160513-16438-hbxwf3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=196&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/122421/original/image-20160513-16438-hbxwf3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=196&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/122421/original/image-20160513-16438-hbxwf3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=247&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/122421/original/image-20160513-16438-hbxwf3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=247&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/122421/original/image-20160513-16438-hbxwf3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=247&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption"></span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Luciana Ruivo</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/">CC BY-NC-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Senator Brandis’s evisceration of the Australia Council disturbed the agency’s two-step with its clients. The <a href="https://theconversation.com/out-with-the-npea-in-with-catalyst-expert-response-51026">A$90-plus million gouged out</a> was an egregious smash-and-grab. But the real damage was done by the policy confusion that accompanied it and the manner in which the aftermath unfolded.</p>
<p>The Australia Council is the federal government’s regiment of foot soldiers, used to mop up spills and disasters. Anyone who sheets the present cuts home to the agency needs to look at what’s happening in the nation as a whole.</p>
<p>This is a government that right from the start has behaved like an opposition anomalously in power. Cultural policy is revealing in this respect. Expenditure-wise what’s being saved is chump change. The amounts the Council doles out wouldn’t buy a set of titanium-shafted golf clubs for the bonus-fat banking executives so loved by Liberal party stalwarts (or who are Liberal party stalwarts).</p>
<p>But cultural policy is where governments must show consideration and mindfulness. It’s a tricky area. How you do things, not just what things you do, matters. Cut, cut, cut away, but if you have no end in view, then you’re not instituting meaningful change. You’re just a nutter with a knife.</p>
<p>Though it is hard to believe, the arts/government funding dance has stumbled along now for nearly 50 years, <a href="http://blogs.flinders.edu.au/laboratory-adelaide/2016/05/13/think-before-you-move/">despite real problems which we’ve talked about before</a>. In all that time, governments have sometimes acted unwisely, and sometimes not acted when they should.</p>
<p>But never have they acted as tactlessly, pointlessly and irresponsibly.<br>
It took years to build arts companies such as Red Stitch, Slingsby and Arena. Cultural subsidy made them possible but was far from the whole story. Now the money’s gone, but so has a sense that government and artists want the same thing. The trust has gone.</p>
<p>That’s the first rule of dancing: don’t break your partner’s toes.</p>
<h2>Restating the obvious: the arts matter</h2>
<p><strong>Maria Miranda, DECRA research fellow, University of Melbourne</strong></p>
<p>The impact of the Australia Council funding cuts will be felt throughout the arts ecology in direct and indirect ways. In addition to those companies that have lost direct support – and the few that have gained it – there’ll be hidden impacts on the small, artist-run organisations that support and produce <a href="https://theconversation.com/small-is-beautiful-artist-run-collectives-count-but-theyre-facing-death-by-a-thousand-cuts-52684">some of Australia’s most interesting art and artists</a>.</p>
<p>Whether it’s a gallery, interactive art or <a href="https://marrickvillegarage.com/2015/03/23/march-projects-second-comings/">turning a whole street into an exhibition space</a>, these small groups are often run without direct funding, through the efforts of volunteers. They provide a space for artists, especially – but not exclusively – for young people, to practise their craft, take risks, and build a community. </p>
<p>They won’t disappear entirely, but the cuts will have negative impacts on the organisations’ ability to mount specific projects. The volunteers who run these spaces are themselves working artists, who depend on funding (and, often, part-time jobs within the arts sector) to survive.</p>
<p>It’s particularly disappointing because this is not expensive art, yet it provides so much. Small and medium arts organisations are outward looking and connected to their communities. They don’t require expensive infrastructure and – to use the appropriate economic term – they’re cost-effective. Small amounts of money make a huge difference.</p>
<p>It’s sadly ironic that in 2014 the Australia Council itself released a report called <a href="https://www.australiacouncil.gov.au/workspace/uploads/files/research/arts-in-daily-life-australian-5432524d0f2f0.pdf">Arts in Daily Life</a> finding that 95% of Australians engaged with the arts in some way in the year before, and nearly half of Australians created art in some way themselves. </p>
<p>Australians understand that art is an important part of their lives and doesn’t just happen in a museum. It’s actually quite strange to have to be arguing the importance of the arts still, in 2016. Didn’t we already have this conversation?</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/59368/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jo Caust was employed by the Australia Council as a consultant in 2014.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Joanna Mendelssohn has received funding from the ARC through a Linkage Project on the History of Exhibitions of Australian Art and has been a recipient of an ARC LIEF grant for Design and Art of Australia Online.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Julian Meyrick receives funding from the Australian Research Council for the project Laboratory Adelaide: the Value of Culture. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Maria Miranda receives funding from The Australian Research Council to research artist run initiatives.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Tully Barnett receives funding from the Australian Research Council for the project Laboratory Adelaide: The Value of Culture</span></em></p>A ‘mortal blow’ to the South Australian theatre scene. ‘Inexplicable’ cuts to centres for photography in two states. The Australia Council’s latest funding decisions have left the arts sector reeling and are evidence of a government indifferent to culture.Jo Caust, Associate Professor, Cultural Policy and Arts Leadership, The University of MelbourneJoanna Mendelssohn, Associate Professor, Art & Design: UNSW Australia. Editor in Chief, Design and Art of Australia Online, UNSW SydneyJulian Meyrick, Professor of Creative Arts, Flinders UniversityMaria Miranda, DECRA Research Fellow, The University of MelbourneTully Barnett, Research Fellow, School of Humanities, Flinders UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/372452015-02-13T10:43:31Z2015-02-13T10:43:31ZRescuing Detroit’s art museum: an interview with director Graham Beal<p><em>Graham Beal, the Director of the Detroit Institute of Arts, <a href="http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/arts/culture/la-et-cm-graham-beal-detroit-institute-of-arts-bankruptcy-lacma-20150109-story.html">recently announced</a> that he will be retiring after fifteen years at the helm. Two of his achievements particularly stand out. The first is his rescue of the museum – when the city of Detroit went bankrupt and the whole collection was headed toward the auction block. The second is his magnificent renovation and re-installation of the museum. Never in the museum’s history have the collections looked so dazzling.</em></p>
<p><em>While he faced challenges unique in the history of American art museums, Graham has emerged from the ordeal unscathed. Fond of colorful bowties and an English gentleman to the core, Beal always looks as if he’s headed to a garden party. He graciously agreed to answer some questions about his experiences at the museum.</em></p>
<p><strong>Before Detroit, you’d been director of the Los Angeles County Museum?</strong></p>
<p>I went to the Los Angeles County Museum [in 1996] to be director under museum president Andrea Rich, who died just six months ago. While our relationship is sometimes cast as somewhat of a failure, we were able to completely reorganize the museum, which was really in the doldrums. The board structure was changed and we had several exhibitions that put the museum back on its feet: Van Gogh, Impressionism and so forth.</p>
<p>Once we solved the problems we really didn’t need two people. Andrea was a wealthy woman who didn’t need to work but she had the bit between her teeth. I found myself at loose ends. I wasn’t a curator but I also wasn’t running the place. </p>
<p><strong>So you moved on…</strong></p>
<p>[In 1999] I was approached a third time by the Detroit Institute of Arts, which was looking for a director. I was particularly attracted by the strength of the collection, and they had a new management structure and a new board.</p>
<p>When I went to Detroit, Detroiters would say, “Really?” But it’s one of the great collections of its kind in the Western Hemisphere. </p>
<p><strong>The original building is magnificent as well.</strong></p>
<p>True, but the whole building needed attention. It was a city building and maintenance had been deferred and deferred. It had been unloved. The Beaux-Arts building [designed by architect] Paul Cret still had DC wiring.</p>
<p>The two wings in the back were the biggest problem, though. They’d been designed by Gunnar Birkerts, but he’d been fired part way through the construction [in the 1960s], and mediocre architects were brought in. </p>
<p>The wings were disastrously under-built. The granite was falling off outside. There were windows in some of the galleries with no vapor barrier. Mostly we renovated but we also did a modest expansion – we added 10% [more space]. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/71531/original/image-20150209-24697-ie05d0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/71531/original/image-20150209-24697-ie05d0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=409&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/71531/original/image-20150209-24697-ie05d0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=409&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/71531/original/image-20150209-24697-ie05d0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=409&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/71531/original/image-20150209-24697-ie05d0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=513&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/71531/original/image-20150209-24697-ie05d0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=513&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/71531/original/image-20150209-24697-ie05d0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=513&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Upon joining the DIA in 1999, Beal went to work renovating a majestic – but crumbling – museum.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/quickfix/7741212438/">Quick fix/Flickr</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p><strong>And you also rearranged the collection?</strong></p>
<p>I’d had experience working with [museum tour guides], and became aware of the huge gap that usually exists between how curators and how the public think about art. I thought it would be good to present the art to the public in a new way. We tried to rethink how art was displayed to the general public – to present it as shared human experience, rather than academic art history.</p>
<p><strong>How did you finance these changes?</strong></p>
<p>We launched a capital campaign that was meant to fix the building and build an endowment, and ended up raising about $250 million. But that was blown out of the water because of the economic downturn after 9/11, when Detroit went into a recession. And we discovered that we had an asbestos problem that cost $40 million to fix. </p>
<p>So we had declared victory – and then needed to start another campaign, which took us through the grand opening of the new DIA at the end of 2007.</p>
<p><strong>And you <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Treasures-DIA-Detroit-Institute-Arts/dp/0895581604/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1423592426&sr=8-1&keywords=graham+beal">wrote a book</a> while all this was going on?</strong></p>
<p>During the building’s renovation, we decided to tour our American collection to the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam. [Books are always produced to accompany major museum traveling exhibitions], though American art history written by Americans can be a little over-patriotic, which sets people’s teeth on edge in other parts of the world. </p>
<p>I looked for an author who had an international outlook, who didn’t see things from a completely American perspective, and when I couldn’t find one, I decided to write it myself. Yes, it’s a bit unusual for a museum director to write a book. My wife was a widow for three months. </p>
<p><strong>But after the 2007 re-opening, the DIA ran into more financial problems.</strong></p>
<p>We realized our business model was unsustainable. So in March of 2009, when we had just reopened, we had to let go 20% of our staff and cut our operating budget by 30%. Letting go people who had given valued service – and were continuing to give valued service. It was ghastly. </p>
<p>But shortly afterwards, when we campaigned to get support for the museum from a new property tax, which eventually passed in three counties. The fact that we had cut things down to the bone was a big help in certain quarters. </p>
<p><strong>The city was having some difficulties around this time – wasn’t the mayor of Detroit – Kwame Kilpatrick – <a href="http://www.detroitnews.com/article/99999999/SPECIAL01/130226003">arrested, tried, and convicted for corruption</a>?</strong></p>
<p>We tried to keep our head below the parapet as far as Detroit politics was concerned: we tried to stay away from the center of these politics and just do our job.</p>
<p><strong>Then the <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2013/07/19/us/detroit-files-for-bankruptcy.html?pagewanted=all">city went bankrupt</a> in 2013.</strong> </p>
<p>I was on vacation when things really blew, so couldn’t immediately respond. My friends in America and Great Britain thought I had had some sort of breakdown. But that wasn’t the case at all. My wonderful chief operating officer was taking the calls.</p>
<p>When something of this magnitude happens, you can either stay the course or walk away. In the public mind I had become equated with the DIA and I thought that walking away would be a disaster.</p>
<p><strong>What was the biggest immediate threat to the museum?</strong></p>
<p>We discovered that the collection [worth an estimated $8.5 billion dollars, <a href="http://artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/07/28/new-appraisal-sets-value-of-detroit-institute-artworks-at-up-to-8-5-billion/?_php=true&_type=blogs&_r=1">according to a 2014 appraisal</a>] was vulnerable. The city had no other easily salable asset. The Attorney General argued that the city owned the collection. I had one meeting with the emergency committee and they were very dismissive of what I had to say. They viewed us as an elitist museum. </p>
<p>We believed that the DIA was a public trust, though none of us wanted to go through the courts to test that. Things were getting quite nasty and we were portrayed as the rich DIA against the poor pensioners. But then the pensioners were polled and a majority were in favor of saving the museum.</p>
<p><strong>What happened next?</strong></p>
<p>We finally came up with a grand bargain. $816 million was raised to repair the badly managed pension fund. The DIA was asked to raise $100 million and we raised it; and as part of the bargain the DIA went back to being a private rather than a city museum. Detroit Free Press reporter Mark Stryker, my chairman Gene Gargaro, and my COO Annmarie Erickson did a huge amount of work on our behalf. </p>
<p><strong>How did you survive the stress?</strong></p>
<p>I like to cook. I read a lot of history, where I learn about what real people did in real situations. It’s a way of getting a bit of distance from one’s own problems.</p>
<p><strong>What will you do in retirement?</strong></p>
<p>Well it means that I’m going to stop running a great big institution. I’m probably not going to stop working. I’ve already been approached by a group of people to help with an area investment. And people roll their eyes when I say this, but I’d like to go back to writing; whether or not it’s published, I’d like to write a memoir.</p>
<p><strong>Any thoughts to wrap up?</strong></p>
<p>I have a real biased statement. I believe that without focusing on the art – and what it should mean to the public – we wouldn’t have survived. 90% of our visitors come from three counties. Without their support, the tax levy wouldn’t have passed and without that, the museum wouldn’t have been saved. We focused on the art – and that was central to the survival of the museum.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/37245/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Henry Adams does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Graham Beal, the Director of the Detroit Institute of Arts, recently announced that he will be retiring after fifteen years at the helm. Two of his achievements particularly stand out. The first is his…Henry Adams, Ruth Coulter Heede Professor of Art History, Case Western Reserve UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/131342013-04-19T00:47:23Z2013-04-19T00:47:23ZIndigenous cultural policy: Creative Australia or creative accounting?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/21972/original/cd3h45fb-1364947297.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">If funding for Aboriginal artists and organisations is cut, performers like The Black Arm Band will not receive adequate support.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">IFACCA</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Like <a href="https://theconversation.com/joining-the-dots-indigenous-art-and-language-in-the-national-cultural-policy-12806">many others</a>, I was pleasantly surprised by the <a href="http://www.indigenous.gov.au/creative-australia-capturing-our-digital-culture/">government’s announcement</a> last month of A$54 million in funding for Indigenous languages as part of the national cultural policy – Creative Australia.</p>
<p>But the spin was laid on thick. The media release <a href="http://www.indigenous.gov.au/creative-australia-capturing-our-digital-culture/">claimed</a> that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures were “at the heart of Creative Australia”. </p>
<p>The former arts minister, Simon Crean, said the policy recognised:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>the central role of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures have in our national life…and through Creative Australia we will work to preserve the hundreds [sic] of languages used in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities and provide support for traditional and contemporary forms of cultural expression.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Minister for Indigenous Affairs Jenny Macklin said Creative Australia will drive the development of community-based language resources and activities, an extension of the <a href="http://arts.gov.au/indigenous/ils">Indigenous Language Support</a> program, as well as promote <a href="http://arts.gov.au/indigenous/ivais">Indigenous Art Centres</a> in remote and regional Australia. </p>
<p>This was starting to sound too good to be true, especially the boost in languages spending.</p>
<p>The new investment was in response to the recommendations of the September 2012 <a href="http://www.aph.gov.au/Parliamentary_Business/Committees/House_of_Representatives_Committees?url=/atsia/languages2/report.htm">report of the House of Representatives inquiry</a> into language learning in Indigenous communities, titled Our Land Our Languages. This was a truly responsive government.</p>
<p>Then I tried to make sense of the figures and I found a lack of clarity and transparency over amounts. </p>
<p>In July 2012 the Australian government announced <a href="http://ministers.regional.gov.au/hon-simon-crean-mp/media-releases/2012/167-million-indigenous-arts-culture-and-languages-nt">A$48 million for Indigenous arts, culture and languages</a>. This announcement too was thick with rhetoric; this was a sound investment and included some phrases that had been given a trial run in September 2011 at a Parliament House event organised by <a href="http://bighart.org/public/">Big hArt</a> that I had participated in.</p>
<p>Former arts minister Simon Crean stated:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Increasingly, evidence shows that participation in culture, languages and the arts has a positive effect on physical and mental well-being in our Indigenous communities.</p>
<p>The funding announced today will continue to join the dots between arts and culture and social and economic wellbeing. The organisations and projects receiving grants are making an immeasurable contribution not just to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, but to the cultural life of our communities and our nation.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>The A$48 million announced consisted of support for 293 Indigenous arts, culture and language projects valued at A$27 million; and A$21 million for 590 arts and culture jobs for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. </p>
<p>I could follow that.</p>
<p>But when Creative Australia was announced I went to the <a href="http://arts.gov.au/indigenous">departmental website</a> and found reference to three broad programs: the Indigenous Visual Art Industry Support program or IVAIS (previously the National Arts and Crafts Industry Support program or NACIS) which committed about A$11 million for 2012–13 with some support annual, some multi-year; the Indigenous Languages Support committing A$9.9 million for 2012–13 again with some multi-year; and the Culture Support program with A$7.4 million in 2012–13, almost all in single year funding. </p>
<p>These three add up to A$28.3 million, not the A$27 million announced in July 2012, but better more than less. And these figures do not include funding of A$7.6 million delivered by the Australia Council for activities with predominantly Indigenous focus nor any by state and territory governments. </p>
<p>I then tried to link these expenditures with a string of commitments outlined in Creative Australia with little success. </p>
<p>For now, there was reference to A$14 million in new funding over four years to develop community-driven language resources and activities as an extension of the Indigenous Languages Support program. But I thought this figure was A$54 million?</p>
<p>And then there was renewal of funding of over A$11 million over four years as a component of the A$49 million over four years for the successful <a href="http://arts.gov.au/indigenous/ivais">Indigenous Visual Arts Industry Support Program</a>. </p>
<p>And there was A$30 million for the new Australian Centre for Indigenous Knowledge and Education at Charles Darwin University and some proportion of the A$158.1 million package over five years for the Special Broadcasting Service.</p>
<p>Initially a welcome A$12.8 million was announced for the Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies for the digitisation of their collections over an unspecified period. Subsequently I was advised that this commitment has mysteriously been reduced to A$6.4 million over two years starting in the current financial year. According to a clarifying departmental source the initial figure was a “text error”.</p>
<p>I tried to get some clarification from then-minister Crean’s media adviser, senior policy adviser and the department about the differences between the July 3, 2012, announcements and the proposals of March 13 this year but could get no response, especially after Crean’s kamikaze politics of March 21.</p>
<p>I probably made a strategic mistake by first asking why “the continuation of the Resale Royalty for Visual Artists Scheme with A$700,000 investment announced in 2012 to ensure Australian visual artists continue to benefit from the commercial sale of their works on the secondary art market” was deemed Indigenous-specific when the scheme applies to all Australian visual artists.</p>
<p>This was the unsatisfactory response from a senior official in the department:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>As of 28 February 2013, there have been over 6,000 qualifying resales that have generated over A$1.45 million in royalties for more than 560 artists, with approximately 60 per cent of royalty payments having gone to Indigenous artists.</p>
</blockquote>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/21985/original/938hn9q2-1364954373.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/21985/original/938hn9q2-1364954373.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=904&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/21985/original/938hn9q2-1364954373.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=904&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/21985/original/938hn9q2-1364954373.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=904&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/21985/original/938hn9q2-1364954373.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1135&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/21985/original/938hn9q2-1364954373.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1135&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/21985/original/938hn9q2-1364954373.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1135&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">‘Let’s not waste a minute’. New Arts Minister Tony Burke promises to implement national cultural policy.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">LandcareAus_pics/Flickr</span></span>
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<p>Yes, so why Indigenous-specific? Perhaps asking such a question is unacceptable? I continued to await a response from the arts administration. </p>
<p>Two weeks on there was a new and enthusiastic arts minister, Tony Burke. “This is great – a portfolio I’m passionate about and a cultural policy we can all believe in. So let’s not lose any of the momentum from Simon Crean’s launch of Creative Australia,” <a href="http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/cultural-sector-welcomes-tony-burke/story-fn59niix-1226605817206">Burke announced</a> by email with subject heading “Let’s not waste a minute” sent out on the very day he was allocated the vacant arts ministry. </p>
<p>Three days later a helpful departmental response: Indigenous funding is A$222.7 million over four years from 2013–14. With new funding limited to A$13.83 million for languages and A$11.26 million over four years for visual arts. </p>
<p>All other arts, culture, languages and jobs initiatives had already been announced prior to March 13 this year. The biggest item, A$88 million, is for jobs, most replacing positions previously funded by the Community Development Employment Program. Smoke and mirrors here!</p>
<p>Of course, all funding for cultural industries is welcome. But it’s clear that Creative Australia also includes some pretty creative accounting. It seems the rhetoric for the government was more important than the reality.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/13134/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jon Altman receives funding from the Australian Research Council and the National Environmental Research Program. He is a director of Arts Monthly Australia and a member of the Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies.. </span></em></p>Like many others, I was pleasantly surprised by the government’s announcement last month of A$54 million in funding for Indigenous languages as part of the national cultural policy – Creative Australia…Jon Altman, Research Professor in Anthropology, Australian National UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.