Culture's Value
Displaying 1 - 10 of 20 articles
It is a strange reality but opera as an artform is always given special and arguably preferential treatment by governments and other influential forces in Western society. This happens, it seems, regardless…
The plan is there is no plan. On climate change, immigration, energy, marriage equality – pick an area – the federal government displays policy desuetude and political exhaustion. Around the world, the…
A new approach to arts advocacy and research could be the breath of fresh air the sector needs - or just more of the same.
This year Melbourne’s La Mama Theatre celebrates its 50th year of operation. In an interview for the company’s 20th anniversary, the founding director Betty Burstall said: The basic thing is the money…
Watching David Stratton’s loving recall of Australian films of the past 50 years over the past three weeks on the ABC, makes you realise how much impact they have had on us all. As one actor says, our…
It’s a strange thing when the re-entry of genuine choice into political contests is framed as “anti-politics”. It feels more historically accurate, and logical, to see it the opposite way. For the past…
Over the past three years, a group of four researchers (of whom I am one) have been looking at the way artists and artworkers live their lives in the Western Sydney. The outcome of this research is being…
The Australian arts sector has had to withstand direct cuts and reductions since the Coalition parties came into government in 2013. In particular, the budget of 2014 saw a re-direction of Australia Council…
An oft-occurring phrase in Peter Temple’s award-willing crime novel, Truth, is “moving on”. Characters say it when they want to change the subject, or there doesn’t seem much more to say about a subject…
Small organisations are creating Australia’s most exciting art. Yet a recent report shows that even the most popular art-forms are bleeding revenue, while government funding dwindles.