A new campaign for the arts

Conflict over the roles of the Australia Council and the Ministry don't address the real policy failures so #freethearts is taking on a bigger policy agenda as Arts Front.
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Australia’s arts and culture is at a critical stage. One of the issues confronting it is lack of any kind of shared vision about what the role of government is in encouraging our arts and culture.

Many of our current problems with Australia’s arts and culture come down to a lack of policy. If the Government doesn’t have a policy that spells out what it thinks is important about arts and culture – and why – and what it intends to do about it and what that will lead to, then the present ad hoc and inconsistent situation will continue.

This needs to lay out how all the parts of the arts and culture sector are related and how they should mutually reinfoce each other. This includes the Government’s own national cultural institutions, the large major and small arts and cultural organisations and individual artists. It also needs to locate this within the broader society and economy, explaining the role of arts and culture in the bigger picture.

‘We need to be able to assess how well they work and how they could be improved and to be flexible about potential changes.’

It also has to be forward-looking, with a long term strategic view and the ability to look critically at what exists now and what could exist in the future, in what are likely to be very different circumstances to those we face now.

It is crucial that everyone involved – the arts and culture sector, government, community organisations, educational bodies and the public – is able to look strategically at how arts and culture is supported in Australia and at the various national and state and territory bodies involved. We need to be able to assess how well they work and how they could be improved and to be flexible about potential changes.

Read: Exploitation is at the core of the arts industry

Unnecessary distraction

Ironically the inevitable furore over the half-baked changes to the national arts funding arrangements over the last year or so have meant that this is less able to occur. Far from raising fundamental issues about the respective roles of the Australia Council and what used to be briefly called the Ministry for the Arts in the Brandis era, the changes have been an unnecessary distraction.

At a recent forum Advocating the Arts at Canberra School of Art a comment was made that the Minister for the Arts wanted the arts and culture sector to respond to this vacuum by providing him with a suggested policy. The problem is that governments only act on policies if they own them. While the arts and culture sector has a crucial role in suggesting what is needed in a national policy, if a government is not up to the hard work of developing its own policy, it is unlikely to ever implement one.

Read: Coalition fails to ​deliver arts policy

Unfortunately I doubt we are likely to see an arts policy from this government, let alone an arts and culture policy – it’s not in their DNA. At best, it might be possible to get a general statement of the significance of the arts and an outline of some of the elements that comprise the Government’s approach to them, along the lines of Brandis’ statement in Western Sydney before the 2013 election. This would be something worthwhile, even though it falls short of what is ideally needed.

This is at a time when the Western Australian Liberal Government has just released the long awaited Strategic Directions Framework 2016-2031 for arts and culture in Western Australia. Leading State arts body, the Chamber of Arts and Culture WA, has noted that this represents the first time that a long-term plan for the arts and culture sector has been developed for Western Australia.

Arts Front

At the School of Art forum there was much discussion about where to take all this. It was clear that amongst the relentless focus on jobs and growth, arts and culture was an issue in the last election. Given that, amongst many other fundamental things, arts and culture is also about jobs and growth, this is highly appropriate. The question is where to take it.

The issue that was mentioned was the planned gathering of those interested in the future of Australia’s arts and culture, in Melbourne in November. It was mentioned that the cut off date for expressions of interest in attending had passed but it seemed that the forum wasn’t aware that the organisers had asked those interested to register to mark their broader and longer-term interest.

 It will be a chance to think and act beyond the limitations of our current systems: what could culture and the arts in Australia look like in 2030 and how do we go about making that vision a reality?

Under the new banner of ‘Arts Front’, the #freethearts campaign is looking to the future with plans to foster strategic discussions about where Australia’s arts and culture is heading. First up is a three day event, Arts Front 2030, at Footscray Community Arts Centre in Melbourne from 23-25 November. The national, three-day gathering of artists, thinkers and change agents from across the country will help shape the future of culture and arts in Australia. 200 participants and invited guests will come together to work on:

  • Developing a shared vision for culture and arts in 2030
  • Building a national network of collaborators
  • Planning joint campaigns and projects

As the information about the Melbourne event notes ‘Building on the mobilisation of the sector in 2015 it will be a chance to think and act beyond the limitations of our current systems: what could culture and the arts in Australia look like in 2030 and how do we go about making that vision a reality?’

Even though the closing date for expressions of interest to attend has passed, organisers are still encouraging people to register on the Artsfront website.

Just the beginning on a long road

It is intended that Arts Front 2030 will be just the beginning. The involvement will be both face to face and online. Registering will keep those interested connected you with all the opportunities to participate and contribute. Key sessions from the event will be live streamed and resources will be shared through the website and social media. 

The aim is to connect with the next generation of artists and thinkers who will grab the opportunity and create a better future for the culture and arts sector – and for Australia.

Arts Front is not the be all and end all of what can be done in support of arts and culture. The deep creativity of the arts and culture sector needs to be applied to develop a wide range of diverse activity in locations across Australia, activities suitable to each local area. However, it all needs to come together in some way for maximum impact and to ensure that those involved can still keep doing what they do best – creating an Australia culture that interacts productively with the rest of the world while telling Australian stories to ourselves and those in other countries. Arts Front has the potential to be an important unifying element in that effort.

Organisers have asked all those interested to spread the word and help share the information in their networks. The aim is to connect with the next generation of artists and thinkers who will grab the opportunity and create a better future for the culture and arts sector – and for Australia.

Arts Front 2030
Footscray Community Arts Centre, Melbourne
artsfront.com
23 – 25 November 2016

Stephen Cassidy
About the Author
Stephen Cassidy is a cultural researcher, writer and commentator. Follow his blog at http://indefinitearticle.net.au/