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Artbeat is the Australian Government Department of Communications, Information Technology and the Arts' cultural newsletter, covering issues, policies, programs and activities from the Department and across the Arts portfolio.

Artbeat is published biannually. If you want to send us information please contact the Editor,
Alexandra Mason
Artbeat, GPO Box 2154 CANBERRA ACT 2601
phone: 02 6271 1709 | fax: 02 6271 1262
email: artbeat.mail@dcita.gov.au

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Contents

MESSAGE FROM THE MINISTER

IN THE HEART OF THE COUNTRY

A HISTORY OF VERY MOVING PICTURES

OUR STARS SHINE IN HOLLYWOOD

A DREAM COME TRUE

EXPRESSING THE ESSENCE OF COMMUNITY
THROUGH THE ARTS

BUNDANON TRUST-THE GIFT THAT KEEPS ON GIVING

INDIGENOUS ART CENTRES IN THE PICTURE

CREATIVE INDUSTRIES
Where culture and economics coincide

AUSTRALIAN ART IN JAPAN

PROMOTING AUSTRALIAN ARTS IN SAUDI ARABIA

IT'LL BE ALL WHITE ON THE NIGHT...

WHEN A LITTLE MEANS A LOT

A word from the Minister

I welcome you to the first issue of Artbeat for 2004.

The past year has been an eventful one. In December 2003, the Australian Government-together with all State and Territory Governments-announced new funding to benefit Australian artists through the Visual Arts and Craft Strategy. The comprehensive new four-year investment of at least $39 million is designed to strengthen and sustain Australia's visual arts and craft sector. In this landmark agreement, Australian Government funding of $19.5 million over four years, will be matched dollar-for-dollar by State and Territory Governments.

There was also much to celebrate, with the tenth anniversary of the Bundanon Trust-set up to preserve the vision of artist, Arthur Boyd-and the 25th anniversary of the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

But there has also been some great sadness with the passing of one of Australia's greatest icons, Slim Dusty, in September. Slim was a great Australian, known both as a country music legend and the quintessential Aussie bushman. He was also a great ambassador for Australia and our unique landscape and lifestyle.

Other artists continue to represent our country and make names for themselves overseas, including Australian actors making it big in Hollywood and several touring exhibitions. Exhibitions of contemporary Australian art and craft are currently touring the public galleries and museums of Japan and our national arts institutions were recently promoted in Saudi Arabia during an Australian food and cultural promotion hosted by the Australian Embassy.

One of the national institutions featured was the National Library of Australia, where Australia's photographic history is currently on display. In a new light: Australian Photography 1850s-2000 is an ambitious exhibition based on the Library's extensive Pictures Collection, which now holds more than 600 000 items.

Many of the photographs on display have never been exhibited or published before, and I encourage you to take the opportunity to see them in Canberra before the exhibition closes later this year.

In the mean time, I hope you enjoy reading the summer issue of Artbeat.

 

Senator Rod Kemp

Minister for the Arts and Sport

 

In the heart of the country

In 2003, while the country was in the grip of one of the worst droughts in decades, Australia also mourned the loss of one of its greatest icons, David Kirkpatrick, or Slim Dusty as he was known throughout his long career.

Undoubtedly Australia's most prolific country and western singer/songwriter, during a career that has spanned more than half a century, Slim Dusty died on 19 September after a long battle with cancer.

Slim was a truly great Australian, known both as a singer and songwriter and the quintessential Aussie bushman. A man whose heart and soul sang of the country he loved, his ability to represent the experiences of rural and regional Australia brought him recognition from his peers and the Australian community as a whole.

Never losing sight of his childhood growing up on a remote dairy farm in the hills behind Kempsey, New South Wales, Slim kept in touch with his audience. He once described his music as songs about real Australians. 'I have to be fair dinkum with my audience. I can't see any other way of doing it,' he said. 'You have to believe in what you are singing about.'

Not long after Slim Dusty's death, spring arrived and brought with it some much-needed rainfall to areas of the country that hadn't seen any for some time. And, to carry on Slim's tradition of looking forward and always giving a good show, the big-hearted country music family has done just that. The Concert for Slim, held in Tamworth on January 20, paid tribute to the father and undeniable King of Australian country music.

As soon as the concert was announced, a stellar line up of Australia's country music artists including Adam Brand, Troy Cassar-Daley, Kasey Chambers and Lee Kernaghan immediately confirmed their appearance. All proceeds from the concert will go directly to the Slim Dusty Foundation to aid in the development of the Slim Dusty Heritage Centre in Kempsey.

'Slim has always been a huge supporter of up and coming artists in music and I have been lucky enough to have been one of those and had the chance to work with him and be inspired by his music and his way of life,' said Kasey Chambers.

For all his life, Slim's passion for Australia was reflected in the songs he sang about people and places all over the continent. With his wife, Joy McKean, he travelled millions of kilometres with his country music show, taking their music to every corner of the nation-from major cities to remote Indigenous communities.

Touring across our vast landscape can, however, be expensive for up-and-coming bands following in Slim's footsteps with interstate tours. Performers can receive assistance from the Australian Government through the Contemporary Music Touring Program, which supports tours of live music performances within Australia-particularly in regional areas-from rock and pop to jazz and folk.

Program guidelines are available by phone 1800 819 461 (message service), fax: 02 6271 1697, email: music.touring@dcita.gov.au or online: www.dcita.gov.au.

 

A history of very moving pictures

By Helen Ennis, Guest Curator and Senior Lecturer, Australian National University School of Art.

Something of great interest and consequence has been happening in Australian libraries in recent years-a re-evaluation of the significance of the incredible pictorial collections they hold. These developments are consistent with contemporary ideas about the accessibility and accountability of our public institutions. The results can be seen in the growing emphasis on exhibitions of visual material and the creation of purpose-built galleries in libraries. In the same period, digitisation programs have expanded phenomenally, offering online access to pictorial collections.

Photography collections are one of the areas to benefit from this new focus-hence the National Library initiative to commission a two-part exhibition In a New Light: Australian Photography 1850s-2000 based on the extensive photography holdings in the Pictures Collection. The first part, which opened on 9 October 2003, deals with the processes of colonisation in the period 1850s-1930s.

The second part, In a New Light: Australian Photography 1930s-2000, opening in December 2004, portrays modern life and will be accompanied by a major publication. The exhibitions propose a re-thinking of the value of photographs as objects in their own right, and with compelling stories to tell.

The Library began collecting photographs in the 1950s when the then Director-General Harold White recognised photography's potential for creating pictorial records that illustrated the life and development of a nation. The Pictures Collection now comprises more than 600 000 photographic items and has a distinctive shape that reflects the orientation of the collecting program.

People are predominant both in portraits and in the large number of images concerned with various aspects of human activity. The natural landscape rarely appears as a subject of its own but rather as an arena in which the processes of colonisation are enacted, such as in relation to exploration, farming, or recreation.

A prominent feature of the Library's photography collection is its portrayal of people from all walks of life. Photographs of prominent members of Australian society sit alongside those of ordinary, often anonymous individuals whose contributions have been less publicly visible. Realist or documentary approaches are prevalent; because of their hold on the 'truth' they have been widely regarded as the best means for creating photographic records.

One of the collection's greatest attractions is the sheer profusion of images it contains. This has enabled the creation of open-ended, multi-layered historical narratives in the current exhibition that offer different takes on a person's life or a major event. For example, Henry Parkes, with his trademark shock of white hair and long beard, is represented in the exhibition in his official capacity as a politician and unofficially as a family man pictured with each of his three wives.

In a New Light: Australian photography 1850s-1930s includes small, intense clusters of work that either elaborate on a theme or highlight one of the National Library's numerous collections.

Concentrated displays of portraits of Truganini, Henry Parkes and Dame Nellie Melba offer a means of exploring the relationship between photography and popular culture. Photographs from individual collections relate to a specific community or a photographer whose works have been collected in depth. Among the latter is one of Australia's finest practitioners-Harold Cazneaux-whose beautiful portraits and views of old Sydney are at the pinnacle of art photography in the interwar years.

In a New Light is an ambitious exhibition. It aims to encourage the viewer to think differently not only about photography and history but also about the National Library itself. In the area of photography, the strength of the collection is such that the National Library is poised to play an expanded and increasingly significant role in Australian visual culture.

The first of the two-part exhibition, In a New Light: Australian Photography 1850s-1930s, is currently on show at the National Library of Australia in Canberra. In a New Light: Australian Photography 1930s-2000, will be shown from December 2004.

GRANTS HELP COMMUNITIES PROTECT THEIR HERITAGE

The National Library of Australia, in partnership with the Australian Government and the National Archives of Australia offers Community Heritage Grants of up to $8000 to assist in preserving the nation's significant documentary heritage collections.

Australian community organisations such as historical societies, public libraries, Indigenous and ethnic groups that collect and provide public access to their documentary heritage collections can apply.

The 2003 grants were recently announced with 50 groups around the country awarded a total of $219 000 for a diverse range of projects. Activities funded include microfilming 33 community diaries by Benedictine monks in Western Australia and preserving a recording of and a letter written by Florence Nightingale held at the Royal Hobart Hospital.

The grants help ensure valuable heritage material continues to be collected and preserved-giving more Australians the opportunity to learn about themselves and our place in history.

Since the Community Heritage Grants program commenced in 1994 more than $1 million has been awarded to 295 different groups. In addition to receiving funding, recipients attend a two-day preservation skills workshop focusing on the long-term care of their valuable collections.

For more information about the Community Heritage Grants Program, go to the National Library's website www.nla.gov.au or call 02 6262 1147.

 

Our stars shine in Hollywood

When Nicole Kidman accepted her Oscar in 2003, she joined Russell Crowe, Geoffrey Rush and Mel Gibson among fellow Australian Oscar-winning actors. She also became the latest in a long line that stretches back to cameraman Damien Parer, who collected Australia's first Oscar in 1942 for his wartime documentary Kokoda Front Line.

In the years since Kokoda Front Line, Australians have won Academy Awards for acting, direction, costume design, music, animation, special effects and other important technical achievements.

A new exhibition entitled Australians in Hollywood celebrates the achievements of Australian artists in the high turnover, high competition American film industry.

From our pioneers of the silent era, Louise Lovely and Annette Kellerman, to the Oscar-winning stars of the so-called 'Australian invasion' today, this exhibition showcases more than 80 Australian actors and technicians who have 'made it' in Tinseltown.

Australians in Hollywood features portraits of the current crop of movie stars including Russell Crowe, Nicole Kidman, Heath Ledger, Cate Blanchett, Hugh Jackman, Eric Bana, Rachel Griffiths and Geoffrey Rush. There are also images of many of those behind the camera-including Bruce Beresford, Gillian Armstrong, George Miller and Peter Weir-telling the often fascinating stories behind their success on the international stage.

Australians in Hollywood is at the National Portrait Gallery, Commonwealth Place, in Canberra until 12 April 2004.

A dream come true

By Heather Wallace

What do you want to be when you grow up? When I was six, the answer was easy: a ballerina.

A career on the stage, pirouetting on my toes, was the only one for me. I'd leap around the backyard, attire myself in a tutu hastily improvised from mum's net curtains (when she wasn't looking) and hear in my mind the rapturous applause of an adoring crowd.

Pity that lack of coordination and two left feet got in my way.

But, though Australia missed out on the rise of one of its greatest dancers, I still try to be involved in the arts world.

At The Australian Ballet's recent production of Wild Swans, I was thrilled at the sight of the heroine's fuschia pink ballet slippers. My inner six-year old-the one who thinks jiffies are the height of fashion-coveted those satin dancing shoes!

And, in a way, that freckled six-year old gets to realise her ambitions.

Money donated to The Australian Ballet-through the Australian Government's Register of Cultural Organisations (ROCO)-is often used for costumes. Each year, patrons can also support the purchase of pointe shoes at around $60 a pair. So I'm now able to combine support for two of my greatest loves: ballet and shoe shopping.

ROCO was established in 1991 to assist cultural organisations attract private sector support by offering a tax deduction for donations of $2 or more.

There are currently close to 900 organisations listed on ROCO, including The Australian Ballet, which rely on philanthropic support.

Susanne Sweetland, National Manager of The Australian Ballet's Private Giving program, says cultural philanthropy is crucial to the arts in Australia. 'Donations through the patrons program from individuals and corporations are essential to develop our artistic excellence and secure the future of The Australian Ballet.

'Donations contribute to the creation of new works, overseas touring, visits by guest artists and refurbishing costumes and sets.'

Organisations listed on ROCO reflect the diversity of contemporary cultural interest of Australian society. Groups include professional theatrical companies, writers associations, Indigenous performing arts groups, community bands and children's choirs.

During 2002-03, more than $23 million was donated to the organisations listed on ROCO.

In addition to gifts of money, donations can also include property such as computers or photocopiers purchased by the donor less than 12 months ago, and gifts of appreciated assets like real estate, shares and equipment that are valued at more than $5000. Deductions for the latter can be spread over a period of up to five years.

So, while my purse strings may not stretch to a pair of Manolo Blahniks, I have the satisfaction of knowing there are dancers out there, leaping around the stage in my shoes.

For more information on the Register of Cultural Organisations visit www.dcita.gov.au/roco or phone 02 6271 1640.

Expressing the essence of community through the arts

Have you ever been involved in a regional arts project? Or perhaps you've read about something in a local paper and wondered what it was all about. The answer is, it's probably about a lot more than you'd first realise.

Participation in the arts can bring unexpected groups of people together, creating links and expressing the essence of the community identity and spirit. It can be a means to make sense of the world, express the inexplicable and forge new directions and meanings.

Projects funded under the Government's Regional Arts Fund have all had, and continue to have, far-reaching benefits for their participants and for the wider community. Two recent projects-Skate and Choral Island-demonstrate how regional arts projects can help communities to explore issues of importance to them and to discover things about themselves and each other.

 

SKATE-NEW SOUTH WALES

The play, Skate, successfully engaged its audience and showed how flexible, encompassing and personal the storytelling power of the theatre can be. Just as important as its success in performance, however, was what it offered to participants during development and the wider benefits to the community as a result. It is not an exaggeration to say that this project brought community healing through art.

A two-year collaboration between Sydney-based Australian Theatre for Young People and Outback Theatre in Hay, New South Wales, Skate tells a story of the skateboarding community and their success amid dramatic and sad events.

The play is about the young people of a major town in the south west of New South Wales who had wanted to establish a skate park in their municipality since the 1980s. They organised a Skate Park Committee under the leadership of 13-year-old Corey*-a boy from a troubled background who had been placed in care for periods of his life, but who had risen above his difficulties to become a leader well respected by his peers and many adults.

The skate park was finally built in 2001, but Corey never saw it. He, his mother and stepfather were murdered in an, as yet, unsolved crime in 2000.

The young people in the community wanted to commemorate Corey's life and leadership role on the skate park, but the local Council was unable to grant permission. Some among the disenfranchised and grieving youth publicly expressed their protest against the council decision.

The play is set in a fictional town, with fictional characters, but it draws on real events and emotions for its inspiration. The development process gave the young people involved a means of expressing their grief and frustration in a constructive way.

Australian playwright Debra Oswald and Timothy Jones from Australian Theatre for Young People (ATYP) teamed up with Outback Theatre for two weeks of research and development with the young people participating in the project. They talked about how they lobbied for the skate park, why they liked skating, what hopes they had for the future and their attitudes to school and the town. This process empowered them and encouraged them to find a creative way to express their concerns.

Featuring a cast of 14 young people, the ATYP production of Skate played to packed houses in the towns of Balranald, Barham, Deniliquin, Finley, Hay, Hillston and Moama. Young people were also the overwhelming majority of the audience for the play's many performances. Many of them had never been to a theatre performance before and saw, for the first time, how the arts could have relevance to their lives. *Not his real name

 

CHORAL ISLAND-TASMANIA

During Tasmania's Ten Days on the Island festival in March 2003, Port Arthur received record numbers of visitors, including more than 3000 in one day. What they came to see and hear was a large-scale vocal event, involving local artists and community based groups from all over regional Tasmania. This remarkable event, involving 400 participants, was the culmination of five months of consultation and development.

Each of the groups chose their own repertoire to reflect their heritage and their concerns in response to contemporary issues. Musical Directors, Mara and Llew Kiek, worked with groups to prepare performers and to support them in the development of vocal skills for the event.

The final event was a huge organisational feat with twenty-two groups and several soloists performing in ten different locations around the Port Arthur site for a two-hour period. All choirs then congregated at the main stage for the finale based on Reconciliation Song, composed and sung by 16-year-old Dewayne Smith.

Choral Island gave choirs the opportunity to perform in a large-scale event, as well as redefining the Port Arthur site as a venue for a celebration of goodwill and harmony-a joining together in one voice and with one purpose. Since participating in Choral Island, Dewayne has gone on to perform Reconciliation Song at Tasmania's National Sorry Day event and is now involved in a young musicians' development program.

Choral Island was the most substantial music event and one of the largest events within the 2003 festival, including the greatest number of local participants.

The event resonated with audiences and participants alike because it reflected their own sense of place and community in all of its diversity. It also provided an opportunity to renew Tasmania's sense of community ownership for the Port Arthur historic site, to respect its history and reclaim it as a place important in the State's cultural make-up.

Through the Regional Arts Fund, the Australian Government assists sustainable cultural development in regional, rural and remote Australia. Funding is provided for arts projects that tap into the creativity of regional communities, developing skills, stimulating innovation and often leading to employment opportunities.

The program administration is devolved to regional arts organisations in each State and Territory arts ministries. A full list of contacts is available from the Department of Communications, Information Technology and the Arts website at www.dcita.gov.au under 'Arts'.

 

Bundanon Trust...The gift that keeps on giving

By Susan Devic

Arthur Boyd was one of Australia's greatest artists, captivating the world with his painting, print making and pottery skills. His inspiration came from his deep love of the Australian landscape and his expression of this love-his artwork-was seized upon by Australians and an appreciative worldwide audience.

In 1993 Arthur and his wife Yvonne donated their property, Bundanon, to the nation and the Bundanon Trust was set up to maintain and develop the property as a 'living arts centre'.

The Trust manages the Bundanon Collection, which includes works by Arthur Boyd, four generations of the Boyd family and other prominent Australian artists. An active exhibition program provides access to the Bundanon collection through travelling exhibitions as well as loans to other institutions.

A general visits program, including open days, group visits, concerts and special events, also allows thousands of people each year to experience Bundanon.

Two major Bundanon Trust programs helping to make Bundanon a unique centre fostering creative development is the artists in residence program and an education program, including its centrepiece-the Arthur and Yvonne Boyd Education Centre.

In 2003 the Trust expanded its education services for school aged and adult groups-experiencing a dramatic 81 per cent increase in visits from local and interstate schools after a vigorous marketing program was put in place. The program also supported the professional development of teacher groups.

The Bundanon Trust celebrated its tenth anniversary in 2003 and the Australian Government pledged its continuing support by committing $2.3 million over four years to assist in the running of its core programs, maintenance of the collection, and the other built and natural assets of the property.

Arthur Boyd passed away on 24 April 1999 but his legacy lives on.

By instituting a way to conserve, preserve and provide access to the natural and cultural heritage of Bundanon, Arthur Boyd's vision has allowed everyone who visits to value the importance of landscape and art in a remarkably beautiful Australian setting.

Chief Executive Officer of the Bundanon Trust, Rene Sutherland, aims to fully realise the vision of Arthur and Yvonne Boyd. 'Our objective is to make Bundanon a vital living arts centre for all Australians-and to do so by building a close relationship between Bundanon and the local Shoalhaven community.'

Bundanon is open to the public every Sunday from 10.30am to 4pm. Visits include tours of the Bundanon homestead and Arthur Boyd's studio. Visitors can bring a picnic lunch to enjoy in the grounds or by the river.

For more information about Bundanon telephone 02 4423 4750 or visit the website at www.bundanon.com.au for a full program of coming events.

 

Indigenous art centres in the picture

By Susan Devic

Few people realise that much of the Indigenous art work celebrated in Australia and around the world for its complex and unique style originates from organised art centres operating in remote Indigenous communities.

These art centres are producing some of Australia's most exciting visual art as well as playing a crucial role in maintaining and strengthening the cultural values of the communities. These art centres also have a vital economic role in remote Indigenous communities because they generate income, training and employment opportunities.

An understanding of the economic impact of the art centres is fundamental to their future growth and prosperity-in many communities sales from art are the only externally generated source of income. These sales, therefore, have a direct impact on the sustainability of the communities.

To really get the art centres in the picture and make a strong and viable future possible, the Australian Government released the Indigenous Art Centres Strategy and Action Plan in October 2003.

The action plan is a joint initiative with the Department of Communications, Information Technology and the Arts, the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Services and the Australia Council.

It aims to build a strong and sustainable Indigenous visual arts sector, with a stable and profitable base of Indigenous art centres producing and distributing works of artistic excellence.

The key areas where the Government-in cooperation with State and Territory funding agencies-will be looking for results are:

• stabilised funding
• business management
• employment and training
• professional art practice
• community capacity and maintenance of culture
• data collection and research.

Working closely on this plan are two major Indigenous peak advocacy and support agencies- Desart, which respresents Central Australian Aboriginal art and craft centres and ANKAAA, the Association of Northern, Kimberley and Arnhem Aboriginal Artists.

They work on behalf of their member centres to promote, resource, educate and protect the work of Indigenous artists and art centres.

This strategy was the result of a 12-month initiative commissioned by the former Minister for Communications, Information Technology and the Arts, Senator Richard Alston, in recognition of the need to support remote Indigenous arts communities in a more concerted and coordinated effort so that this sector reaches its full potential.

The Australian Government is providing increased financial support through the Visual Arts and Craft Strategy (VACS)-a four-year $39 million Australian, State and Territory Government funding package. The package includes $1.87 million for a special joint national initiative for key Indigenous art organisations-such as Desart and ANKAAA in the Northern Territory and Ananguku in South Australia-and a grants program for Indigenous art centres to be managed by the Australia Council.

The Indigenous Art Centres Strategy and Action Plan is available online at www.dcita.gov.au or copies are available by calling 02 6271 1694.

Creative industries

Where culture and economics coincide

By Stephen Cassidy

Our creative industries are an exciting and, though still relatively small, rapidly growing part of Australia's economy. They represent the rise of an economy based on creativity and ideas, and the ability to apply those ideas to generate valuable and useful products and services.

Creative industries span areas such as software and computer services, design, publishing, television and radio, music, film and video, visual arts and crafts, advertising, architecture, interactive leisure software, designer fashion and performing arts.

Digital content and applications are becoming increasingly important, both in economic terms and as a means of expressing Australia's unique cultural identity as much of what is produced by these industries is produced, converted or distributed digitally.

Companies such as Animal Logic-visual effects producer for The Matrix series of movies-or the game developer, Ratbag, are examples of those working in the creative digital production industry, which ranges from interactive multimedia and digital film and music production to online games and advertising.

Creative industries are already economically significant. In 2000, sector turnover in Australia represented $19 billion, or 3.3 per cent of GDP. Compared to industry generally, they have a relatively high economic impact on employment and growth for every dollar spent.

However, comparison with the UK and US, where GDP shares are 5 per cent and 7.8 per cent respectively, shows Australia is not capturing the potential of the sector in terms of contribution to GDP and employment.

Creative digital industries play a major role as an input into and enabler for other larger industries, such as health, education and media. In many ways, they are playing a leading role in developing new production and distribution technologies and in their application to traditional industry practices in other industries, such as occupational health and safety, training, mining and agriculture.

This sector contributes to innovation in many ways-in production of innovative content itself; in the development of new technology as an integral part of production of content; in delivery of content and in the organisational and business relationships and processes involved.

Though it overlaps the not-for-profit cultural industry with its strong outputs of public goods, the digital content sector as a whole differs from the cultural industry because, to a large extent, the sector has the potential to be commercially sustainable.

The sector offers exciting opportunities for cultural organisations to build links with creative industries and to contribute to the growth of a key industry sector for the Australian economy and its export effort.

For example, Australian collecting institutions have a major role to play in development of digital standards used for exchanging, redeveloping and distributing content. Cultural organisations particularly are also repositories of massive stocks of high-quality Australian content.

In a stay-at-home age, when people are increasingly reluctant to travel, the online presence of a country like Australia can, in many ways, become more important than its physical reality.

Many overseas audiences, let alone domestic audiences, may only perceive Australia through the sum of its online appearance-its digital shadow. Establishing a coherent brand for Australia internationally will depend heavily on the strength of the content available online.

To address the growth of these key industries, the Australian Government made an election commitment to develop a comprehensive Digital Content Strategy to support the growth of major, globally competitive Australian industries producing digital content and applications.

For the past two years, the three-stage Creative Industries Cluster Study, undertaken jointly by the Australian Government Department of Communications, Information Technology and the Arts and the National Office for the Information Economy, has been the vehicle for developing this strategy.

The study will provide industry-wide information on the creative digital industries in Australia and will inform the development of a consolidated Australian Government response to support the growth of the creative industries.

It has already provided input to the National Innovation Agenda and provided the basis for the development of a Digital Content Industry Action Agenda.

For further information on the study, go to http://www2.dcita.gov.au/ie/environment/drivers/creative_industries or phone 1800 065 754.

Australian art in Japan

Japan is currently the backdrop for the largest ever number of exhibitions of contemporary Australian art and craft curated by public galleries and museums from around the country.

The Asialink/Australia Japan Foundation Art Exhibitions Touring Program was initiated by The Asialink Centre of The University of Melbourne following a Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade supported tour of Japan for visual arts managers in the late 1990s.

Asialink, with the support of fellow travellers, saw the potential for real engagement between Japanese and Australian art museums and a dearth of know-ledge and understanding of Australian art in Japan.

Not only have Australian public galleries enthusiastically supported the Program, but major venues in Japan also have welcomed the works and put their considerable financial and networking might behind their staging and promotion.

Seven exhibitions are part of the touring program, which runs through to late 2004, including:

• Light Black-work in metal, porcelain and wood by Robin Best, Catherine Truman and Sue Lorraine, curated by the Jam Factory Contemporary Craft and Design, Adelaide, hosted by the Museums of Modern Art in Tokyo and Kyoto (ended October 2003).
• Patricia Piccinini: We are Family-from the 2003 Venice Biennale, supported by the Australia Council, hosted by the prestigious Hara Museum in Tokyo (ends February 2004).
• Living together is easy-a joint exhibition of 12 Australian and Japanese artists, co-curated by the National Gallery of Victoria and Art Tower Mito, with the support of the Japan Foundation, starting in Japan in January 2004 and travelling to Melbourne later in the year.
• Supernatural Artificial-an exhibition of the work of eight artists using photomedia, curated by Gertrude Contemporary Art Spaces, Melbourne and hosted by the Tokyo Metropolitan Museum of Photography (mid 2004).

The reach and impact of the Program have benefited from the support and enthusiasm of the Japanese hosts. Japanese art institutions have all agreed to support each project with local freight, promotion, celebratory functions, and translating and printing the catalogue.

Posters, newsletters and brochures about South Australian craft have appeared around Tokyo and Kyoto, including around the Imperial Palace subways. Three television crews filmed the sand painting prepared by Neville Gulaygulay and Richard Birrinbirrin from Ramingining to celebrate the opening of Spirit Country in Tokyo and Japanese art circles are excitedly talking about seeing one of the hits of the Venice Biennale at the Hara Museum.

Asialink applied to the Australia Japan Foundation and the Australia Council for support and this exciting new touring venture has been the result-one it is hoped will continue with greater links in the future.

The Program now has core funding in Australia from the Australia Japan Foundation of $250 000 and $230 000 from the Australia Council. State Government Arts Departments of South Australia and Victoria have also contributed, as well as all of the initiating institutions around the country.

The Asialink Arts Exhibitions Program encourages and facilitates greater exchange of cultural material and information between Australia and Asian countries, with a focus on contemporary work and personnel travelling from Australia.

Since 1991 Asialink has toured 58 exhibitions in partnership with 35 galleries and independent curators touring to 184 venues. The work of 394 Australian and Asian artists have been shown to audiences numbering in the hundreds of thousands and-through the media-millions.

For more information, go to www.asialink.unimelb.edu.au

Promoting Australian arts in Saudi Arabia

Our national arts institutions were recently given the opportunity to shine in Saudi Arabia during a recent Australian food and cultural promotion in Riyadh.

The Australian Embassy hosted a gala evening of the nation's finest food, as well as icons like Vegemite, all in a setting of our best examples of Australian music, performance and visual arts.

Held at the residence of Australian Ambassador, H.E. Robert Tyson and the Al Khozama Hotel, the event featured a range of promotional materials provided by participating cultural institutions including the Australia Council and the National Gallery of Australia.

Packages sent to Riyadh included brochures, posters, CD-ROMs and other items promoting exhibitions and other initiatives.

Music and videotapes from the performing arts and training centres such as the Australian Film Television and Radio School were also played to the delight of Saudi Arabian dignitaries, including Minister for Agriculture, H.E. Dr Fahd Ibn Abdulrahman Balghaneim.

Feedback so far from the Embassy was that the event was a great success and thoroughly enjoyed by all. It is hoped that future events will be expanded to include more of Australia's great variety of art forms and cultural institutions.

It'll be all white on the night

By Heather Wallace

As the tradition goes 'something old, something new, something borrowed and something blue' all help a bride walk down the aisle on her big day.

And bridal traditions were out in full force at the launch of the Online Gallery-celebrating 25 years of the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program-starting with the display of stunning gowns from Muriel's Wedding.

In this case 'something old' was an ancient T Rex skeleton; 'something new'-Muriel's wedding dress; 'something blue'-splashes of colour in a mask from the Duke of York Islands; and 'something borrowed' were the 85 contributions to the Online Gallery from cultural institutions around Australia.

The Minister for the Arts and Sport, Senator Rod Kemp launched the Online Gallery at ScreenSound Australia in Canberra in late 2003. The foyer and theatre of ScreenSound were appropriately decked out in white satin ribbons, while the Minister found himself as the unofficial 'father of the bride' for the night.

Guests from around Australia joined the Minister and guest speaker Lynda House-the producer of Muriel's Wedding who donated the costumes to ScreenSound Australia under the Cultural Gifts Program-in celebrating 25 years of the program.

More than $290 million worth of gifts have been donated to cultural institutions around Australia through the program since it began in 1978.

Gifts under the program are exempt from capital gains tax and donors can claim the cost of valuations and, in most cases, the full market value of the gift as a tax deduction. In addition, the deduction for the gift can be apportioned over a period of up to five years, enabling donors to realise the full benefit of their tax deduction.

A visit to the Online Gallery reveals a treasure chest of rare and unique cultural items, collected together in the following categories:

• Australian art
• art around the world
• Australian heritage
• heritage on the move
• music, literature and entertainment
• costume and design
• science and nature

The gallery brings together pieces by major Australian artists, such as the works of Fred Williams, William Robinson and Emily Kame Kngwarreye that are housed in collecting institutions around the country. Other items on display include images of great moments in Australian theatre, such as Don McMurdo's image of Dame Joan Sutherland's final bow and Max Dupain's stunning images of the Ballet Russes' tours of Australia in the 1930s and '40s.

The Cultural Gifts Program 25th Anniversary Online Gallery is available at www.dcita.gov.au/cgp/anniversary.html

When a Little means a lot

Jimmy Little has been awarded the Australia Council's prestigious $50 000 Red Ochre Award for his outstanding contribution to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander arts over a 50-year music career.

The Indigenous music scene came to life with Jimmy Little's first recording in 1956 at age 19 and, since then, he has marked each decade with his distinct and particular style and personality.

The 1963 gospel hit Royal Telephone made Mr Little the first Indigenous pop star in Australia. He went on to become one of the country's most consistent recording artists, with four of his recordings achieving 'gold' status.

Mr Little is also a recognised leader, mentor and much-loved ambassador for the Indigenous community.

'Jimmy is nature's gentleman,' said Dr Richard Walley OAM, Chair of the Australia Council's Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Arts Board in presenting the Red Ochre Award.

'To present the award to a music legend and a personal role model-and to be part of this celebration with Jimmy's family and friends-is an honour,' he said.

Mr Little adds the Red Ochre Award to a list of musical accolades that includes an ARIA for Best Adult Contemporary Album, admission to the ARIA Hall of Fame, the National Gospel Music Award, as well as Deadly awards for Outstanding Contribution to Aboriginal Music, Male Artist of the Year, Best Single of the Year and Country Artist of the Year.

• Document ID: 11043 |
• Last modified: 5 February 2008, 5:48pm