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Riding the political roller coaster

Artists and arts organisations need to have the ear of government but getting too close to the Arts Minister of the day can cause a backlash when a new Pharoah arises.

16 Sep 2016

Richard Watts

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Writing and Publishing

Image by Shakilov Neel via deviantart.com

Effective arts leaders know that having the ear of government is beneficial, not only to their organisation specifically but the sector as a whole. But as the recent stoush between the Labor-led board of Darwin Festival and the then CLP Territory government illustrates, sometimes it’s best not to get too close to the political powers-that-be.

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Richard Watts

Richard Watts is ArtsHub's National Performing Arts Editor; he also presents the weekly program SmartArts on Three Triple R FM, and serves as the Chair of La Mama Theatre's volunteer Committee of Management. Richard is a life member of the Melbourne Queer Film Festival, and was awarded the status of Melbourne Fringe Living Legend in 2017. In 2020 he was awarded the Sidney Myer Performing Arts Awards' Facilitator's Prize. Most recently, Richard was presented with a Lifetime Achievement Award by the Green Room Awards Association in June 2021. Follow him on Twitter: @richardthewatts