The arts community’s diversity problem

The arts are how we tell stories about ourselves, yet our sector is failing to embrace cultural diversity, both internally and in what we show the world.
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Chinese-Australian MC Joelistics (TZU) and Filipino-Dutch-Australian songwriter James Mangohig (Sietta) in Performance 4a’s In Between Two.

The revelation last week that, for the second year running, every actor nominated for a major acting award in this year’s Oscars is white has prompted furious debate. The president of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has promised to take “dramatic steps” in order to bring about “much needed diversity”.

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Phillip Mar and Ien Ang
About the Author
Ien Eng is Distinguished Professor of Cultural Studies, Institute for Culture and Society at Western Sydney University. Phillip Mar is Research Associate in Cultural and Social Research at Western Sydney University.