The appointment of Michael Brand as the new director for the Art Gallery of NSW demonstrates that gallery directors have become international art stars in their own right.
Columns / My Cup Of Tea
Arts editor shits on theatre blogging, flame war ensues
The Global Mail opened its coverage of Australian arts on Monday with a curious piece from Stephen Crittenden about theatre blogging. Online writers haven’t stopped talking about it since.
Leave the glamour to Hollywood and celebrate niche
Were this week’s AACTA Awards any better than the old AFIs? The spruced-up gongs show the Australian film industry still hasn’t come to terms with its niche status.
Australia doesn’t need better films, just better distribution
Australian films only took 3.9% of the domestic box office last year. The Adelaide Film Festival’s outgoing director Katrina Sedgwick argues the entire business model of cinema is changing fast.
New cultural roadmap, but will there be a soundtrack?
The arts year will be dominated by key themes: the announcement of the National Cultural Policy, the deflation of the music festivals bubble, and fraught times at many smaller companies.
The painful waiting game for arts bodies on funding
How do you plan for the coming year when you don’t know whether your main source of income will arrive? Arts organisations face a difficult time waiting for their grant announcements.
Putting bums on seats: new ways to sell old arts
The ultimate aim of arts companies is to put bums on seats. But the multi-media, multi-faceted strategy is an inexact science. Crikey speaks to arts marketers about the challenges of their jobs.
When too much arts is a bad thing: festivals at war on dates
The Melbourne Festival has put forth a proposal to change its dates to February or March. But no one asked the rest of the arts sector. Could Melbourne and interstate festivals cannibalise audiences?
Nowhere to pee, but music fans keep rocking on
Music festivals have the problems other arts sectors would die for. The logistics are a nightmare — like the recent Harvest Festival — but the fans keep coming.
The problem of being exceptional
Excellence. It might be a goal of our national cultural policy, but do we really know it means?
Controversy aside, snaps to Australian poets
Australian poetry is suddenly the subject of considerable debate. While there’s controversy over a new poetry anthology by UNSW Press, there’s wider optimism over the health of poetry more generally.
Where arts and policy meet in the digital sphere
The Gillard government is embarking on a “digital culture public sphere” consultation as a part of its national cultural policy development. Kate Lundy talks to Crikey about what it is and why we should care.
Arts policy converging into a government hash
Government arts policy is a hash. The now its Convergence Review — which is posing serious questions about the future shape of cultural policy — is making the National Cultural Policy irrelevant.
The legacy of our departing gallery gurus
With the retirement of Edmund Capon from the Art Gallery of NSW and Gerard Vaughan from the National Gallery of Victoria within weeks of each other, two of the biggest jobs in the Australian art world are open.
If the ABC really cared about the arts …
What’s happening to the arts on the ABC? The trend is to cut programs and outsource production, but the broadcaster’s charter — and its talented staff — demands a greater commitment.
A digital avenue for Australian musos on the Jays
Triple J’s new digital radio station — specifically devoted to new and emerging Australian contemporary music — is a step in the right direction for Australian content.
More channels but less local content on Australian TV
Australian content is being diluted by multi-channelling, according to a new Screen Australia report released yesterday.
No playing around, video games are an art form
The Freeplay independent games festival is on right now in Melbourne. Ben Eltham talks to festival director Paul Callaghan about the festival’s program and some of the trends affecting the sector.
A political arts discussion with broad strokes
Arts Minister Simon Crean has released a discussion paper on the government’s forthcoming National Cultural Policy. He speaks to Crikey about the competing agendas and the budget belt tightening.
The costly disease in our backing orchestras
An Australia Council-commissioned report into Australia’s ballet and opera orchestras reveals an unsustainable business model. But where will efficiencies come from?
Book barns are dead, long live cosy indies
We can’t save big book barns, but we can save independent cultural retail. It’s independent book stores and music retailers that offer something the big chains rarely mustered: character, passion and charm.
This Is Not worth funding, says Newcastle council, despite tourist draw
Newcastle City Council defunded the This Is Not Art festival despite championing it in the Council’s own Tourism Plan. Now councillors are questioning the decision.
Newcastle arts festival shortfall highlights grant discrimination
The loss of funding for innovative Newcastle festival This Is Not Art highlights the inconsistencies of cultural funding. The majority of grant dollars are not allocated competitively.
Get your Aussie on: defining the authenticity of Australian actors
Australian screen production is still a closed shop and Aussie actors are fighting to keep it that way.
The perks (and toner) corrupting arts administrators
Last week it was Film Victoria’s $45,000 party, this week Arts Victoria is under fire for a $40,000 printer toner bill. The perks, and increasingly corporatised arts funding, is corrupting the provision of cash.
