Arts Nation Arts Nation An Overview of Australian Arts 2015 Edition p. 1 Arts Nation: An Overview of Australian Arts was prepared by the Australia Council for the Arts. Updated October 2015. Published under Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-NonDerivative Works 2.5 License Any distribution must include the following attribution: Australia Council for the Arts 2015, Arts Nation: An Overview of Australian Arts, 2015 Edition, Sydney, Arts Nation INTRODUCTION The arts are a big part of everyday life for Arts Nation is a snapshot in time. Australians. The Arts Nation report is an important The arts play a vital role in a culturally first step in building consolidated and ambitious nation. Never before has there meaningful knowledge about the arts in been such rapid change driven by creativity Australia. This inaugural report will help and innovation. Never before has there us to look at the arts through a wider lens been more engagement, participation - their place in the lives of Australians and or curiosity about art and culture in our the profile of Australian arts internationally. everyday lives. The report draws on a range of existing and new data, framed within a newly created Australia has a great arts story to tell. set of indicators designed to inform the conversation about the arts in Australia. Australia is proud to have its roots in the Over time, we will work collaboratively world’s oldest living culture, and in more to develop and build this report into a recent times enriched by an incredible comprehensive picture of the Australian breadth of diversity from across the globe. arts sector. Australia is a critical part of the Asia Pacific region with deep, strong and harmonious Consolidating existing data and new ties to other parts of world. Australian indicators. arts transcend boundaries and borders, and the Australia Council is committed to The report relies on the important supporting increased artistic collaboration contribution and partnership of and cultural exchange. Australians cherish organisations including the Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander arts Bureau of Statistics, Live Performance and we aspire to greater understanding and Australia, Tourism Research Australia, and engagement at home and abroad. many others. We thank these organisations for their contribution and acknowledge Informing the growth of a healthy arts that the integrity and growth of this report ecology and nation. will rely on the support of these and new partners in the years ahead. Building a greater understanding about the makeup of the arts in Australia - its scale, Arts Nation takes a fresh approach to dimension, contributors and participants consolidating important available data from - will help us work collaboratively to diverse sources and distilling it down to key support strong future development. We indicators which can be easily understood. are committed to developing a range of We have outlined how we plan to expand useful indicators to measure and analyse these indicators in the future and also invite growth and change over time. We intend your support, contribution and feedback that this report will speak to the arts sector to ensure that this report becomes the but also engage and captivate a far broader definitive resource on the arts in Australia. audience. We hope it will play a role in Australia increasingly being known for its great art and artists. Rupert Myer Tony Grybowski Chair CEO p. 1 2015 Edition CONTENTS Introduction p. 01 List of tables and figures p. 03 Executive summary p. 04 About this report p. 05 Summary of indicators p. 07 Australians experiencing the arts p. 10 Artists and the arts p. 16 Talking points: On diversity p. 20 Australian arts internationally p. 23 Talking points: International p. 27 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander arts p. 30 The cultural economy p. 35 Getting the measure of happiness: The arts and subjective wellbeing in Australia p. 41 Contributors p. 44 Data sources p. 45 p. 2 Arts Nation LIST OF TABLES AND FIGURES Australians experiencing the arts Figure 1: Creative participation in the arts by age group, 2013 p.11 Figure 2: Arts attendance by region and art form, 2013 p.13 Figure 3: Arts attendance and creative participation by household income, 2013 p.14 Figure 4: Average ticket price as a proportion of household income p.14 Artists and the arts Figure 5: Diversity of the artist population compared to the total workforce p.18 Figure 6: Award nominees and artist population by gender and art form p.18 Australian arts internationally Figure 7: International tourist trends, 2010–11 to 2013–14 p.24 Figure 8: Number of international tourists undertaking selected activities, 2013–2014 p.25 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander arts Figure 9: Australians’ interest in Indigenous arts, 2013 p.32 Figure 10: Indigenous Australians in the arts – percentage of each group who are Indigenous p.33 Figure 11: Number of international tourists undertaking Indigenous arts activities, 2013–14 p.33 The cultural economy Table 1: Capital and recurrent cultural funding by layer of government, 2012–13 p.38 Figure 12: Cultural funding by layer of government, 2008–09 to 2012–13 p.38 Table 2: Capital and recurrent core arts funding by layer of government, 2012–13 p.38 Figure 13: Corporate sponsorship and private giving to Major Performing Arts companies, p.39 2009 to 2013 Figure 14: Amount raised by successful arts crowdfunding projects, 2011–12 to 2013–14 p.39 p. 3 2015 Edition EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Australians value the arts. is consumer spending, for example, ticket sales for performing arts events generated A growing number of Australians believe $1.5 billion in 2013. that the arts make for a richer and more meaningful life; they influence how we Private support for the arts continues express ourselves, our creative thinking to grow, most significantly from private and new ideas. Understanding the scope donations. Arts organisations are and impact of the arts in an Australian experiencing rapid growth with the major context is complex. This first Arts Nation performing arts companies seeing an 81% report provides a starting point for that increase between 2009 and 2013. exploration at a national level, and will Crowdfunding is a small but growing continue to develop over time. area for Australian artists to raise smaller amounts with a higher than average success New analysis using the internationally rate. recognised wellbeing valuation approach is one way of calculating the value of Exploring the way international tourists intangibles. It suggests that people spend their time in Australia has highlighted who engage with the arts have higher the growth in arts tourism. There has been life satisfaction. This is a significant 19% growth over the past four years, with finding given the level of engagement by 2.4 million international visitors to Australia Australians with the arts. in 2013–14 engaging in arts tourism. More than one in four international tourists visit Nearly all Australians consume at least galleries or museums, similar to the levels in one form of art and half participate in arts the UK and USA. creation each year. Geographic location does not impact on arts engagement as Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islandera much as you might expect and creative arts are cherished both at home and participation has increased amongst abroad. Nine in ten Australians agree that some groups with historically lower Indigenous arts are an important part levels of participation. The 44,000 of Australian culture and audiences for practicing professional artists in Australia Indigenous arts are growing. Aboriginal predominantly have portfolio careers, with and Torres Strait Islander artists are just 17% working full-time on their creative proportionally more likely to be nominated practice. for a major Australian art award or participate in an international arts event. The arts are deeply embedded in the The Indigenous visual arts sector is a cultural sector, and cultural activity makes major contributor to the arts economy and a substantial contribution to the Australian responsible for some of Australia’s most economy. Cultural activity contributes $50 valuable works of art. billion to Australia’s GDP, comparable to the GDP share in the USA, including over This snapshot in time affirms the $4.2 billion from the arts. Expenditure significance of the arts in the lives of on culture by Australian governments in Australians, as well as our international 2012–13 was $7 billion including over $1.3 profile. Central to this is our unique billion on the arts. Important to note is position as home to the world’s oldest that the main source of income to the arts continuous living culture. a The terms 'Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander' and 'Indigenous' are both used in this report to refer to the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples of Australia. p. 4 Arts Nation ABOUT THIS REPORT The Australia Council for the Arts is • to be credible and accessible committed to providing evidence as a • to present unexpected and original catalyst for informed discussion about the analysis. arts. This will help decision-makers not only to form well-justified views, but to Definition of the arts explain their views and convince others. Over time, this body of credible and It has been important to establish a independent evidence can also inform the definition of ‘the arts’ for this report. Arts wider community about key issues in the and culture are inextricably linked, but arts, choices in balancing sectoral interests, while the arts are expressions of culture, and the different kinds of value generated culture is more than the arts alone. This by the arts. report identifies the core arts in relation to the Australia Council’s areas of Arts Nation: An Overview of Australian responsibility and includes: Arts is a central feature of the Australia Council’s research program.