Wednesday, February 1, 2023

All at sea in a floating library

I’m a little out of touch with what’s happening in the world of Australian creativity and culture because I’m in a floating library – a Viking cruise from Sydney to New Zealand. The ship has already been in Melbourne and Hobart, tonight we arrive in Christchurch.

In an inspired move I had booked the Alexander McQueen exhibition at the National Gallery of Victoria, in case I don’t get back to Melbourne before it finishes. I walked off the ship and headed into the city to see it. It was popular and packed and I wore my face mask throughout, but it was excellent and not-to-be-missed. I hadn’t been to Melbourne for ages – since 2019, before the you-know-what began.

Innovator and designer Alexander McQueen lives again at National Gallery of Victoria

Last night I found myself sitting near Tom Ward, a young Tasmanian guitarist who is performing on the cruise. He has played all around the world, including with other performers like Tommy Emmanuel, and was Tasmanian Composer of the Year. He talked about how musicians had been effected by the COVID-19 pandemic and what he’d done to survive and how bad Spotify was for musos. He mentioned that he knew many musicians who had released dozens of recordings but had given up performing and recording completely due to the pandemic and the patchy support the creative sector had received during it.

A couple of days ago I saw that the Australian Government had finally released its new National Cultural Policy. I’ve had a quick glance at it but I will read it more closely and comment further. It is of extra interest to me since I was the director of the taskforce that co-ordinated the production of the last one under the previous Labor Government back in 2012.

 See also

An everyday life worth living – indefinite articles for a clean, clever and creative future 
‘My blog “indefinite article” is irreverent writing about contemporary Australian society, popular culture, the creative economy and the digital and online world – life in the trenches and on the beaches of the information age. Over the last ten years I have published 166 articles about creativity and culture on the blog. This is a list of all the articles I have published there, broken down into categories, with a brief summary of each article. They range from the national cultural landscape to popular culture, from artists and arts organisations to cultural institutions, cultural policy and arts funding, the cultural economy and creative industries, First Nations culture, cultural diversity, cities and regions, Australia society, government, Canberra and international issues – the whole range of contemporary Australian creativity and culture’, An everyday life worth living – indefinite articles for a clean, clever and creative future.
 
Beyond a joke – surviving troubled times 
‘We live in troubled times – but then can anyone ever say that they lived in times that weren’t troubled? For most of my life Australia has suffered mediocre politicians and politics – with the odd brief exceptions – and it seems our current times are no different. Australia has never really managed to realise its potential. As a nation it seems to be two different countries going in opposite directions – one into the future and the other into the past. It looks as though we’ll be mired in this latest stretch of mediocrity for some time and the only consolation will be creativity, gardening and humour’, Beyond a joke – surviving troubled times.  

‘indefinite article’ on Facebook – short arts updates and commentary
‘Short arts updates and irreverent cultural commentary about contemporary Australian society, popular culture, the creative economy and the digital and online world – life in the trenches and on the beaches of the information age’, 'indefinite article' on Facebook.
 
Second bite of the cherry - revisiting a national cultural policy
‘When the last national cultural policy was being finalised in 2012, more than 43% of the Australian population or at least one of their parents were born overseas. Now, as its successor is being developed after a cultural policy vacuum of more than nine years, that figure has been superseded, with over half the population or at least one of their parents born overseas. This makes a strong focus on the dynamic promise of our cultural diversity essential for any successful policy. Unfortunately, the main shortcoming of the previous policy was that it didn’t make this focus as strong as it needed to be, which was a pity because the policy was otherwise very good and comprehensive’, Second bite of the cherry - revisiting a national cultural policy.
 
Cool little capital - the ambition to make Canberra Australia's creative city
‘Arts policy in the ACT has been more miss than hit, even though intentions have been good and there have been some worthwhile achievements. Unfortunately often the achievements don’t seem to have sprung from an overall vision of a consolidated strategic policy, which has meant that their full value hasn’t been harnessed. There has been a history of consultation stalling and not producing fruitful results. However, the ambition is currently there and building on some of the previous work, there may finally be a policy that focuses support for the arts and links it to the broader landscape of culture and creativity, if only all the interlinked components can be recognised and implemented’, Cool little capital – the ambition to make Canberra Australia's creative city.

National Cultural Policy rises from dead to boost Australian arts, culture and creativity
‘A change in national Government means that much of the daily work of Government in keeping the country running continues as before, eased along by the continuity provided by the public service. However, there can also be drastic changes of direction and fresh starts and old and tested ideas reinvigorated. One area where this will certainly be the case is with Government support for Australian arts, culture and creativity, with consultation to update the policies in Creative Australia, the previous National Cultural Policy, getting underway without delay’, National Cultural Policy rises from the dead to boost Australian arts, culture and creativity.

Labor election victory means renewed approach for Australian arts and culture support 
‘Almost a decade of Coalition Government has ended, with a complex and ground-breaking result. During that long period the substantial and detailed work to develop a national cultural policy under the Rudd and then Gillard Labor Governments was sidelined. A strategic, comprehensive, long-term approach to support by national Government for Australian culture and creativity in its broadest sense was largely absent. Now we are likely to see a return – finally – to some of the central principles that underpinned ‘Creative Australia’, the blueprint that represented the Labor Government response to Australia’s creative sector’, Labor election victory means renewed approach for Australian arts and culture support.

Why Australia still needs a cultural policy – third time lucky?
‘It’s no longer the pre-election campaign we had to have. It’s become the election campaign we can’t avoid. We are spiralling inexorably towards election day and Ministers and members have been plummeting from the heights of the Coalition Government like crew abandoning a burning Zeppelin. We may wake on 19 May to find we have a national Labor Government. With Labor pledging to implement an updated version of the short-lived ‘Creative Australia’, its national cultural policy, first promised by the Rudd Government, it’s a good time to reconsider its importance’, Why Australia still needs a cultural policy – third time lucky?

Why cultural diversity is central to Australia’s future promise – a refocused Labor arts policy?
‘Can Australia successfully navigate the treacherous and confusing times in which we live? Understanding the crucial importance of our cultural diversity to our cultural, social and economic future will be essential. Applying that in the policies and practices that shape our future at all levels across Australia can ensure we have a bright, productive and interesting 21st Century. An important part of this are the political parties, major and minor, that are increasingly negotiating the compromises that shape our world. The recent launch by the Labor Party of a new group, Labor for the Arts, could be an important development. Combining as it does a focus from an earlier time on both arts and multiculturalism, it could potentially open the way for some innovative and forward-thinking policy’, Understanding why cultural diversity is central to Australia’s future promise – a refocused Labor arts policy?

Changing the landscape of the future – a new focus on cultural rights
‘The arts and culture sector has spent far too many years pressing the case for why Australian culture is crucial to Australia’s future, without seeming to shift the public policy landscape to any great degree. Perhaps a proposed fresh approach focusing on cultural rights may offer some hope of a breakthrough. What makes this approach so important and so potentially productive is that it starts with broad principles, linked to fundamental issues, such as human rights, which makes it a perfect foundation for the development of sound and well-thought out policies – something that currently we sadly lack’, Changing the landscape of the future – a new focus on cultural rights.

What is art good for? Understanding the value of our arts and culture
‘With arts and cultural support increasingly under pressure, arts and cultural organisations and artists are trying to find ways in their own localities to respond and to help build a popular understanding of the broader social and economic benefits of arts and culture. Much work has been done in Australia and internationally to understand, assess and communicate the broad value of arts and culture. The challenge is to share and to apply what already exists – and to take it further’, What is art good for? Understanding the value of our arts and culture.

Putting culture on the main agenda – the power of policy
‘With the ongoing malaise due to the absence of national arts and cultural policy in Australia, it's worth reminding ourselves what beneficial impact good policy can have. To understand the power of policy to make an impact in the world, it’s worthwhile contrasting two recent major Australian Government cultural policies – the National Cultural Policy and the National Indigenous Languages Policy. This helps illuminate how cultural policy can promote the long view, innovation, breadth and leadership. Both policies showed that more important than funding or specific initiatives was the overall strategic vision and the way in which it attempted to place culture not just on the main agenda, but somewhere near the centre of the main agenda’, Putting culture on the main agenda – the power of policy.

Flight of the wild geese – Australia’s place in the world of global talent
‘As the global pandemic has unfolded, I have been struck by how out of touch a large number of Australians are with Australia’s place in the world. Before the pandemic many Australians had become used to travelling overseas regularly – and spending large amounts of money while there – but we seem to think that our interaction with the global world is all about discretionary leisure travel. In contrast, increasingly many Australians were travelling – and living – overseas because their jobs required it. Whether working for multinational companies that have branches in Australia or Australian companies trying to break into global markets, Australian talent often needs to be somewhere else than here to make the most of opportunities for Australia. Not only technology, but even more importantly, talent, will be crucial to the economy of the future’, Flight of the wild geese – Australia’s place in the world of global talent
 
Cut to the bone – the accelerating decline of our major cultural institutions and its impact on Australia’s national heritage and economy
‘I always thought that long after all else has gone, after government has pruned and prioritised and slashed and bashed arts and cultural support, the national cultural institutions would still remain. They are one of the largest single items of Australian Government cultural funding and one of the longest supported and they would be likely to be the last to go, even with the most miserly and mean-spirited and short sighted of governments. However, in a finale to a series of cumulative cuts over recent years, they have seen their capabilities to carry out their essential core roles eroded beyond repair. The long term impact of these cumulative changes will be major and unexpected, magnifying over time as each small change reinforces the others. The likelihood is that this will lead to irreversible damage to the contemporary culture and cultural heritage of the nation at a crucial crossroads in its history’, Cut to the bone – the accelerating decline of our major cultural institutions and its impact on Australia’s national heritage and economy.
 
Crossing boundaries – the unlimited landscape of creativity
‘When I was visiting Paris last year, there was one thing I wanted to do before I returned home – visit the renowned French bakery that had trained a Melbourne woman who had abandoned the high stakes of Formula One racing to become a top croissant maker. She had decided that being an engineer in the world of elite car racing was not for her, but rather that her future lay in the malleable universe of pastry. Crossing boundaries of many kinds and traversing the borders of differing countries and cultures, she built a radically different future to the one she first envisaged’, Crossing boundaries – the unlimited landscape of creativity.

Contemporary Indigenous fashion – where community culture and economics meet
‘The recent exhibition 'Piinpi', about contemporary Indigenous fashion, has a significance for Australian culture that is yet to be fully revealed. The themes covered by the exhibition are important because they demonstrate the intersection of the culture of First Nations communities with creative industries and the cultural economy. In attempting to address the major issue of Indigenous disadvantage, for example, it is critical to recognise that one of the most important economic resources possessed by First Nations communities is their culture. Through the intellectual property that translates it into a form that can generate income in a contemporary economy, that culture is pivotal to jobs and to income. It may not be mining but it mines a far richer seam – authentic and rich content that has already been recognised internationally for its high value, just like our iron and coal. At a time when First Nations communities are talking increasingly about gaining greater control over their economic life, this is highly relevant’, Contemporary Indigenous fashion – where community culture and economics meet

Understanding the economy of the future - innovation and its place in the knowledge economy, creative economy, creative industries and cultural economy 
‘When we start to think about the economy of the future – and the clean and clever jobs that make it up – we encounter a confusing array of ideas and terms. Innovation, the knowledge economy, the creative economy, creative industries and the cultural economy are all used, often interchangeably. Over the years my own thinking about them has changed and I thought it would be useful to try to clarify how they are all related’, Understanding the economy of the future – innovation and its place in the knowledge economy, creative economy, creative industries and cultural economy.  

Broader and deeper - the creativity and culture of everyday life
‘The Impact and Enterprise post-graduate course at the University of Canberra course is unique in Australia in placing creative industries and the creative and cultural economy in the broader landscape of the wider impacts of creativity and culture - both economic and social. It starts from the premise that what the broader social and economic roles of creativity and culture have in common is that a focus on the economic role of creativity and culture is similar to the focus on its community role – both spring from recognition that creativity and culture are integral to everyday life and the essential activities that make it up. In March 2021, as the course entered its third year, I gave a talk to the students about where it came from,’ Broader and deeper - the creativity and culture of everyday life.

Music makes the world go round – the bright promise of our export future
‘After ABBA, in an unexpected break from its traditional way of building national wealth from natural resources, Sweden managed to discover a new source of income. It was not as you would expect coal or oil. Rather than oil what it had discovered was song royalties, part of a fundamental change in the nature of modern economies which transformed them from relying solely on natural resources, transport and manufacturing to make creative content a new form of resource mining. Examples like theirs point to potentially major opportunities for the Australian music industry to become a net exporter of music,’ Music makes the world go round – the bright promise of our export future.

Arts, culture and a map of the future – the limits of arts policy

‘In the arts, from a virtual policy-free zone, we’ve now got policies – not as many as we could have hoped, but enough to be going on with. Some of them might even get implemented. Importantly, the others will help to frame the debate and offer ideas for the future. Those parties that have arts policies offer good solid and productive proposals which, if implemented, would lead to definite improvement for Australia’s arts and culture. However, that’s just the starting point’, Arts, culture and a map of the future – the limits of arts policy.

Election mode for Australian arts and culture – a policy-free zone?
‘A policy and the understanding of issues that leads to its adoption, provides arts and culture with a stature that underpins funding by providing a rationale for support. Otherwise funding will always be ad  hoc and insecure, piecemeal, project-based, intermittent and at the mercy of whim and fashion. We have to get arts and culture to the stage where it is seen like public health or education and debated accordingly’, Election mode for Australian arts and culture – a policy-free zone?

Arts funding – it’s not all about the money
‘National Arts Minister, Mitch Fifield, has said that being a strong advocate for the arts doesn’t mean delivering government funding and that an arts Minister or a government shouldn’t be judged just on the  quantum of money the government puts in. This sidesteps the Government’s very real problems that it has muddied the waters of existing arts funding, cutting many worthwhile organisations loose with no reason, that rather than delivering arts funding, it has reduced it significantly, and that it has no coherent strategy or policy to guide its arts decisions or direction. The real issue is that a national framework, strategy or policy for arts and culture support underpins and provides a rationale for arts funding – and is far more important’, Arts funding – it’s not all about the money.

National arts policy – excelling in the mediocrity stakes
‘I am not too concerned who manages national arts funding. Both the Australia Council and the Ministry for the Arts have long managed numerous funding programs. I am more concerned about what is funded. The fact that the national pool of arts funding available to support the operational costs of smaller arts and cultural organisations has shrunk substantially is a deep concern. Watch as Australia’s arts and culture sector reels over the next five years from this exceptionally bad policy decision – and expect the early warning signs much sooner. Well- known and respected figures in the arts and culture sector have been expressing this concern sharply’, National arts policy – excelling in the mediocrity stakes.

Out from the shadows – the other Arts Minister
‘I ventured out through the dark wilds of the Australian National University to hear the Opposition Spokesperson on the Arts, Mark Dreyfus, share his view of what a contemporary arts and culture policy might look like. It was a timely moment, given the turmoil stirred up by recent changes to national arts funding arrangements and the #freethearts response from small arts and cultural organisations and artists. Luckily, as he himself noted, he has a very recent model to work with. The National Cultural Policy is little more than two years old,’ Out from the shadows – the other Arts Minister.

‘Arts’ policy and culture – let's not reinvent the wheel
‘Faced with the increasing prospect that it could become the next Australian Government, the Labor Party is reviewing its ‘arts’ policy. Whatever happens and whoever it happens to, considered and strategic discussion of arts and culture policy is critical to Australia's future.’ ‘Arts’ policy and culture – let's not reinvent the wheel.

‘Creative Nation’ – Keating's cultural legacy
‘Developing ‘Creative Australia’, the second Australian National Cultural Policy, required such focus that little was said about the first one, Keating’s ‘Creative Nation’. ‘Creative Nation’ acknowledged two distinct and very different strengths in Australian culture. The first was the contemporary diversity of Australia. The second was the economic significance of the arts and culture sector, including the creative industries. This reflected the reality of how Australia had changed in half a century. However it also reflects a different way of looking, beyond the narrow view of ‘the arts’ as a gently civilising influence on the surface of a frontier society’, ‘Creative Nation’ – Keating's cultural legacy.

Sunday, December 11, 2022

Revisiting the island to the North – a nearby foreign country

Many years ago sitting by a roaring fire in a wintry pub in the Central Highlands of Tasmania, I read that Tasmanians liked to call Australia ‘the Island to the North’. I’m a long-term Tasmanian-in-exile, so it’s interesting to think about Australia in the 21st century, as someone who hails from that tiny Southern island, looking at its much bigger neighbour as an immigrant.

The orange rocks of the Bay of Fires - close to where the island to the North and the island to the South were once joined

Living on the mainland I travel the back lanes of this unusual country, marvelling at the people. They speak a strange language, not all that different to Tasmanian, though I am aware that Tasmania has many languages – as does the island to the North. Deciphering them is the challenge. We are neighbours but sometimes I wonder if I am behind enemy lines.

Saturday, November 5, 2022

Cool little capital - the ambition to make Canberra Australia's creative city

Arts policy in the ACT has been more miss than hit, even though intentions have been good and there have been some worthwhile achievements. Unfortunately often the achievements don’t seem to have sprung from an overall vision of a consolidated strategic policy, which has meant that their full value hasn’t been harnessed. There has been a history of consultation stalling and not producing fruitful results. However, the ambition is currently there and building on some of the previous work, there may finally be a policy that focuses support for the arts and links it to the broader landscape of culture and creativity - if only all the interlinked components can be recognised and implemented.

The history of arts policy – let alone any sort of broader policy about culture or creativity ­– has been an uneven one in the ACT. There’s been a succession of Arts Ministers, the last two of whom – Dr Chris Bourke and Gordon Ramsay – each made valuable contributions in their own way. Chris Bourke in particular established a long-running history of support by the ACT Government for ground-breaking DESIGN Canberra. Gordon Ramsay hinted at a vision by the ACT Government for a broader view of creativity and culture linked to creative industries just before the 2020 ACT election in which he lost his seat. Before them there was also an earlier consultation process to develop a new arts policy in 2015, which didn’t produce much in the way of new useful outcomes.

Craft ACT stall at DESIGN Canberra, it's major public initiative

Now Tara Cheyne, an energetic Arts Minister with strategic vision, has overseen the launch of a new, considerably improved policy, ‘Canberra: Australia’s Arts Capital – Arts, Culture and Creative Policy 2022–2026’. This means we currently have a national process underway to produce a National Cultural Policy to succeed the 2013 Creative Australia policy and complementing that at local level a recently-announced ACT arts policy. How the two policies might intersect will be an interesting question. It seems an ideal opportunity to revisit some of the critical elements that help ensure the success or otherwise of any policy aiming to foster creativity, culture or the arts.

Sunday, August 21, 2022

Another bite of the cherry - revisiting a national cultural policy

When the last national cultural policy was being finalised in 2012, more than 43% of the Australian population or at least one of their parents were born overseas. Now, as its successor is being developed after a cultural policy vacuum of more than nine years, that figure has been superseded, with over half the population or at least one of their parents born overseas. This makes a strong focus on the dynamic promise of our cultural diversity essential for any successful policy. Unfortunately, the main shortcoming of the previous policy was that it didn’t make this focus as strong as it needed to be, which was a pity because the policy was otherwise very good and comprehensive.

Recently I opened the Sydney Morning Herald Good Weekend magazine to discover that Australia is now ‘the first English-speaking, migrant-majority nation, the only one on the planet, with 29.2 per cent of our population born overseas and 21.6 per cent born here with at least one migrant parent’. This is based on data from the 2021 census, so it may already have been overtaken. When the last National Cultural Policy, ‘Creative Australia’ was being developed, the available data indicated that more than 43% of the Australian population were either born overseas or had a parent who was. Given the lag in collecting and analysing data, those figures were almost certainly out of date at the time. 

The Aboriginal Memorial at the National Gallery of Australia - one of the great cultural treasures of Australia, now relocated to the heart of the Gallery.

Our cultural diversity, from the many Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander nations, cultures and languages which underpin Australian culture, bolstered by waves of migration, is an important national asset. The previous Labor attempt at a national arts policy, ‘Creative Australia’, the short-lived National Cultural Policy, finally completed under the Gillard Government with Arts Minister Simon Crean at the helm was very good. It was developed after broad consultation – and that showed.

The new Albanese Government, and its Arts Minister Tony Burke, have been calling for submissions to help update the National Cultural Policy announced way back in 2013. Many organisations and individuals have been preparing submissions, reflecting the importance with which they view this process. The deadline is tomorrow and I've just added my own comments, informed by many decades of involvement across the breadth of the creative and cultural sector around Australia. They are also shaped by my previous role as Director of the National Cultural Policy Task Force which co-ordinated the development of 'Creative Australia', particularly the broad-ranging public and industry consultation. You can read my comments below.

Sunday, July 3, 2022

National Cultural Policy rises from dead to boost Australian arts, culture and creativity

A change in national Government means that much of the daily work of Government in keeping the country running continues as before, eased along by the continuity provided by the public service. However, there can also be drastic changes of direction and fresh starts and old and tested ideas reinvigorated. One area where this will certainly be the case is with Government support for Australian arts, culture and creativity, with consultation to update the policies in Creative Australia, the previous National Cultural Policy, getting underway without delay.

A change of Government, especially at a national level, can mark major changes in some areas and little in others. Most of the work Government does – essentially the everyday running of the country – often changes little from one Government to the next, no matter what the political flavour of the incoming Government. The long suffering public service continues to keep the ship afloat no matter how incompetent any particular Government may be.

Garma Festival 2008 East Arnhem Land

Promise and hope
However, left long enough incompetence can foil even the most diligent department and a change of Government can mark a fresh start in stagnant areas and energise a demoralised public service. There are likely to be many fresh starts in coming months, despite the hangover of debt and inertia inherited by the new Government. From my perspective, one of those areas of promise and hope is Government support for the arts, culture and creativity.

Monday, June 27, 2022

Talent time – Australian creativity in a global world

In an increasingly globalised world, Australian creative talent has been playing a leading international role for decades. Nowhere is that more apparent than with the Australian presence in the global film-making machine of Hollywood. One of Australia’s leading national cultural institutions has captured that phenomenon in a new exhibition about the role of Australians in Hollywood, celebrating iconic moments in contemporary Australian film and the people and stories that brought them to life.

Despite the wallowing by some Australians in insular inward-looking nostalgia and a backwards-looking yearning for a non-existent self-reliant Aussie past, for many decades Australian talent has been playing a central role in the global creative economy. 

The front entrance to the National Film and Sound Archive

Because the creative economy is based on content, it draws on, intersect with and contributes to Australia’s national and local culture and is a central part of projecting Australia’s story to ourselves and to the world ­– it help channel those who write the stories, paint the pictures and dance the dances that tell our story. As part of Australia's culture sector and the cultural economy that derives from it, it shares the critical function of managing the meaning of Australia and what being Australian means. It is closely linked to the profile of Australia as a clever country, both domestically and internationally.

Tuesday, May 24, 2022

Labor election victory means renewed approach for Australian arts and culture support

Almost a decade of Coalition Government has ended, with a complex and ground-breaking result. During that long period the substantial and detailed work to develop a national cultural policy under the Rudd and then Gillard Labor Governments was sidelined. A strategic, comprehensive, long-term approach to support by national Government for Australian culture and creativity in its broadest sense was largely absent. Now we are likely to see a return – finally – to some of the central principles that underpinned ‘Creative Australia’, the blueprint that represented the Labor Government response to Australia’s creative sector.

Having been Director of the National Cultural Policy Task Force that coordinated the development of 'Creative Australia' under Crean and Gillard, I feel a great sense of deja vu this week - albeit looking back over almost ten years and a global pandemic. I can never say again that we don't live in interesting times – with all the consequences of that.

 A ground-shaking election means that there may be some important changes on the way for support for Australia’s arts and culture. I must admit that I had largely stopped commenting because at some point, you realise there is no more to be said about the same old, same old after almost a decade. Now we are likely to see a return to a revised blueprint that represented the Labor response to Australia’s creative sector ten years ago. Before the election, Shadow Arts Minister, Tony Burke, outlined what an incoming Labor Government would do for Australian arts and culture.

Election poster from New Zealand 2016

His most important comment was that ‘the first step is a comprehensive cultural policy.’ He went on to note that ‘a cultural policy isn’t simply an arts policy. Cultural policies have only been developed in Australia by Labor Governments. Paul Keating and his Arts Minister Michael Lee developed Creative Nation. Julia Gillard and her Arts Minister Simon Crean developed Creative Australia.’