Perth artists join national protest

Artists in Perth have joined national protests against what they say is a threat to the vibrancy and freedom of a creative Australia by Federal Arts Minister George Brandis.

In changes announced in last week’s Budget, $105 million will be stripped from the Australia Council funding agency over the next four years for Senator Brandis to set up his own excellence in arts program in his ministry

Critics said this would cause needless bureaucratic duplication, threaten the viability of smaller community arts organisations and undermine the long-standing bipartisan principal of arms-length funding to avoid political censorship.

Former Australia Council chair Margaret Seares told a protest rally in the Perth Cultural Centre the move was like robbing Peter to pay Paul and left many arts organisations in limbo.

“I would encourage the Government to have another look at this and see whether there is value in having these two programs,” Professor Seares said. “The last thing we want to see is this divide and rule between different parts of the arts.”

Senator Brandis’ intervention blindsided the State funding agencies that support art projects jointly with the Australia Council, which has suspended a major round of grants as it scrambles to absorb the changes.

Independent artists, the backbone of Fringe World and community arts events around the State, would be hit hardest, Blue Room Theatre executive director Kerry O’Sullivan said. “They are the engine room of innovation,” she said.

Oscar winner Shaun Tan and author Thomas Keneally are among more than 7000 signatories to a petition opposing the changes.

Senator Brandis said the Australia Council should not be a monopoly and his new program would open funding to a broader range of applicants.

“I can’t see for the life of me, in circumstances where there has been no reduction in funding available, what is wrong with there being contestability, so that there are two funding streams,” he told ABC radio this week.

“The idea of a funding mix with some programmes administered through the Ministry and most programmes administered through the Australia Council is a healthier and more contestable way to do arts funding,” he said.

Details about the new program would be published in coming weeks, with applications from arts bodies and artists sought for next financial year.

Senator Brandis said the guidelines would be transparent, independent and “extend access to funding to wider variety of potential applicants than is the case at the moment”.

The major performing arts companies from the Australia Council cuts, meaning the money will be taken out of programs that support small to medium companies and individual artists.

The decision has shocked many in an arts sector dealing with the biggest overhaul of the Australia Council since the agency was established in 1967.

The council had chopped an unwieldy 140 grant categories down to just five and introduced more simplicity and flexibility for artists in a bid to encourage excellence and more diversity and collaboration across art forms and geographic boundaries.

But the axe has fallen just as funds were about to start flowing under the new system. The council will not proceed with its second round of grants in June, will suspend its six-year funding for key organisations and has ditched its ArtStart, Creative Communities Partnerships Initiative and Artists in Residence programs.

Smaller WA organisations like Barking Gecko and Yirra Yaakin theatre companies and the new Contemporary Dance Company of WA, have been knocked sideways by the uncertainty.

CDCWA chair Wendy Wise said the company had been due to launch its inaugural season in October after applying for six-year funding but would have to rethink its approach to next year.

Yirra Yaakin artistic director Kyle Morrison, who worked on the indigenous elements in The Giants, said the innovative small-to-medium arts sector was “the mechanism that progresses Australian culture”.

Barking Gecko, which had initiated projects with major companies Sydney Theatre Company (Storm Boy) and Opera Australia (The Rabbits), exemplified the way smaller companies fuelled national excellence, chief executive Helen Hristofski said.

“It is like taking money off the WAFL and Auskick and expecting the Dockers and Eagles to keep winning,” she said.

Australia Council chief executive officer Tony Grybowski said the “unexpected” Budget measures would have a significant impact and the council would work closely with the Ministry for the Arts and Creative Partnerships Australia to avoid duplication and offer complementary support to the arts sector.

Funding for the major performing arts companies and other government-directed programs made up 66 per cent of the council’s $184.5 million appropriations for 2015-16, leaving $62 million to disperse in grants and other operations elsewhere, Mr Grybowski said.

To manage the transition, the council would review its strategic plan and revise activities within the new budget, and in the context of further details to come about the Government’s new program, he said.

Following the reforms of the past two years the Council was a more dynamic and responsive organisation, he said.

“This puts us in the best possible position to respond to the unexpected budget measures announced last week, and to make the most strategic use of our funding and expertise.

“The Australia Council is committed to supporting a vibrant and sustainable ecology which includes artists at all stages of their careers, arts organisations of all sizes, and strategic investment to develop global markets and audiences.

“The council remained uniquely positioned to be a strong advocate for Australian arts, drawing on the rich arts expertise of its staff and a deep knowledge base developed over almost half a century of supporting the arts in this country,” he said.