A Major International Visual Arts Event in Western Australia
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A MAJOR INTERNATIONAL VISUAL ARTS EVENT IN WESTERN AUSTRALIA FEASIBILITY STUDY 2014 PREPARED BY INSIDE LANE CONTENTS EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ...................................................................... 4 SECTION ONE - PROCESS .................................................................... 9 Feasibility Process ............................................................................. 9 Audit ............................................................................................ 12 Analysis ........................................................................................ 29 SECTION TWO - ABORIGINAL VISUAL ARTS .......................................... 63 SECTION THREE - INDIAN OCEAN RIM ................................................ 92 SECTION FOUR - EXPERIMENTAL ARTS .............................................. 125 SECTION FIVE - THE BIG IDEA .......................................................... 136 SECTION SIX - EDUCATION .............................................................. 140 SECTION SEVEN - DIGITAL STRATEGY .................................................144 SECTION EIGHT - MARKETING ......................................................... 147 SECTION NINE - CORPORATE STRUCTURE .......................................... 150 SECTION TEN - PUBLIC PROGRAMMING ............................................. 151 SECTION ELEVEN - ABORIGINAL ART CENTRE DIGITAL RESIDENCY .......... 156 SECTION TWELVE - EVENT CREATION ................................................ 158 SECTION THIRTEEN - RECOMMENDATIONS ........................................ 209 SECTION FOURTEEN - APPENDICES ................................................... 212 3 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY A meeting was convened on 14 March 2013 which brought together representatives of the arts and cultural sectors including relevant State Government agencies. The meeting discussed the idea of staging a major International Visual Arts Event in Western Australia. The meeting resolved unanimously to proceed with a study to ascertain the feasibility of such an event. Those attending the meeting agreed to form a Project Steering Group to oversee the project at a sector level. The meeting identified Artsource as the suitable applicant to receive a Lotterywest grant for this project and a small Project Control Group was appointed to progress the engagement of suitable consultants and to manage the consultancy on behalf of the Steering Group. Inside Lane successfully tendered to develop the feasibility study. A Project Reference Group was formed by Inside Lane and a number of consultants supported the feasibility process. The philosophy driving the feasibility was that the event needed to deliver a new and exciting experience to the national and international visual arts world, and deliver benefits to Western Australia and Western Australians. It was important to understand what the community felt Western Australia had to ofer. Why would artists, audiences, sponsors, other governments, industry professionals want to be a part of the event? The process involved audit and research, analysis, the development of event concepts and an event recommendation. The audit involved desktop research, the attendance at the Biennale of Sydney, the Melbourne Art Fair, Vivid and the Margaret River Region Open Studios and the implementation of an interview program and on line-survey. Two forums were held with participation sourced from artists, curators and galleries. Funding sources were researched within the government, corporate, cultural and philanthropic sectors. A focus of the consultation process involving an online survey and 105 interviews was to ascertain how a visual arts event staged in Western Australia could present a point of diference to the large range of visual arts events staged around the world. Unless a valid reason was established to attract visitation and create awareness of Western Australia, the feasibility would have a negative outcome. The visual arts education sector including the methodology for incorporating a schools program into the event was researched. During the education research, a creative experiential education program was located at onedotzero, a contemporary, digital arts organisation based on London with a remit to promote innovation across all forms of moving image and motion arts. Further discussions with onedotzero resulted in the incorporation of additional initiatives into the process. During the audit process, it was clear that the visual arts sector felt undervalued. Infrastructure at some of the publicly funded galleries was in need of investment and renewal, and commercial gallery activity has diminished substantially over the past decade with the closure of several galleries and some Aboriginal Art Centres. During the writing of this Report Venn Gallery announced it will close at the end of the year. 4 Financial constraints at government funded organisations such as the Art Gallery of Western Australia, declining levels of philanthropy and reduced numbers of private individuals collecting art are also all impacting on local artists. These issues have restricted the capacity of some organisations and reduced the range of opportunities for WA artists, both of which limit community access to exhibitions and visual arts experiences. This situation could be identified as an opportunity to develop a new initiative to support infrastructure renewal, generate greater utilisation of galleries and create a much needed focus on the visual arts. One of the objectives of the research was to extract those elements of the visual arts which had event potential that would have a particular resonance for Western Australia. An event development process is considered necessary. A feasibility involving estimates of event expenditure and revenue is needed to analyse the potential for the event to be successfully staged. It is understood that in each event, an artistic director will bring their own ideas and vision. The event concept creation however will provide an understanding of the potential scale of the event and the financial implications. The outcome of the research initially provided three areas of interest involving Aboriginal Art, the Indian Ocean Rim and Experimental Arts. The decision was taken that rather than choose one area of interest and develop one event to satisfy the project brief, it would beneficial to provide a greater understanding of the range of opportunities available and develop event concepts for each area. It would also mean that the Report would provide a significant bank of information on all areas of interest. This would allow greater flexibility should the parties disagree with the consultant’s recommendation, or circumstances change between the delivery of the Report and the decision making process. As the areas of interest emerged from the research, they were incorporated into the process to analyse event opportunities. Consultants were employed to expand the understanding of the areas of interest and investigate potential event concepts. Each concept was put through an analytical process involving the competitive environment, creation of a budget and its ability to meet the objectives and considerations of the feasibility criteria. A fourth area of interest developed late in the feasibility during a forum of gallerists and curators. The concept of a program of large scale site specific installations was discussed and subsequently developed. The fourth concept was matched with an outcome which had generated from the consultation and survey process. A number of respondents and interviewees expressed the need for something which would make people look at Perth in a diferent way, that the city should be turned into a playground and that the event should address the fabric of the city – that the city should become a landscape canvas. The outcome of the event development process was the establishment of four event concepts. 5 Continuum – Past Present and Future A major triennial celebration of Aboriginal art involving the staging of nine festival events, incorporating: t a major collective exhibition through a partnership of public, private and tertiary collections t large scale exhibitions and art fairs involving established and emerging Aboriginal artists t a national and international Indigenous artists ‘showcase involving multiple exhibitions in PICA, Central Gallery and the Cultural Precinct public spaces including digital stations and outdoor works t A Symposium Series t An Aboriginal Art Centre Digital Residency t An exhibition of Noongar art commencing with the Carrolup Collection and providing a narrative for the development of Noongar art to the present day t Involvement in a creative thinking professional development five day program involving cross disciplinary collaboration. Monsoon Projects The creation of a specific initiative to develop projects and professional connections in the Indian Ocean Rim (“IOR”), involving: t The creation of a position of General Manager to drive the development process; t Short and medium term exchanges between IOR organisations, WA agencies and galleries, Art Centres and collectives; t The development of relationships with major tertiary institutions nationally and internationally to generate exchanges, workshops and residencies; t Field trips to key major art events in IOR; t The invitation of IOR curators, directors, and artists to coordinate tours to studios, galleries and art spaces across WA t Support Artsource in the establishment of residencies and internships