PROMOTING DIVERSITY OF CULTURAL EXPRESSION IN ARTS IN AUSTRALIA A case study report Dr Phillip Mar Institute for Culture and Society, Western Sydney University Distinguished Professor Ien Ang Institute for Culture and Society, Institute for Culture Western Sydney University and Society DIVERSITY OF CULTURAL EXPRESSIONS Published under Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-NonDerivative Works 2.5 License Any distribution must include the following attribution: P.Mar & I.Ang (2015) Promoting Diversity of Cultural Expressions in Arts in Australia, Sydney, Australia Council for the Arts. ABOUT THE AUTHORS Dr Phillip Mar Phillip Mar is an anthropologist by training, with research interests in migration, political emotions, contemporary art and cultural policy. Since 2008, Phillip Mar has been a researcher at the Centre for Cultural Research / Institute for Culture and Society, Western Sydney University. Distinguished Professor Ien Ang Ien Ang is a Distinguished Professor of Cultural Studies at the Institute for Culture and Society (ICS) at Western Sydney University. She is one of the leaders in cultural studies worldwide, with interdisciplinary work spanning many areas of the humanities and social sciences, focusing broadly on the processes and impacts of cultural flow and exchange in the globalised world. Her books, including Watching Dallas, Desperately Seeking the Audience and On Not Speaking Chinese, are recognised as classics in the field and her work has been translated into many languages, including Chinese, Japanese, Italian, Turkish, German, Korean and Spanish. Her most recent book, co-edited with E. Lally and K. Anderson, is The Art of Engagement: Culture, Collaboration, Innovation (2011). She is also the co-author (with Y. Tambiah and P. Mar) of Smart Engagement with Asia: Leveraging Language, Research and Culture, a report for the Australian Council of Learned Academies, www.acola.org.au (2015). 1 DIVERSITY OF CULTURAL EXPRESSIONS PREFACE This report is an outcome of a Memorandum of Understanding between the Australia Council and the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNSECO) Bangkok to promote cultural diversity in the Asia-Pacific, signed in 2012. The report aims to contribute to understanding and debate of the implications of UNESCO’s 2005 Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expression, to which Australia became a signatory in 2009. The selection of projects featured in this report was conducted jointly by representatives of the Australia Council, UNESCO Bangkok and the researchers from the Institute for Culture and Society. Projects were selected on the basis of their suitability for a ‘best practice’ case study report on the interpretation and implementation of the UNESCO Convention with a national and international readership. In-depth interviews were conducted in order to gain an understanding of multiple stakeholder perspectives on the processes and practices in question. Ethnographic material has been supported by analysis of available project documentation, other public documentation and critical writing. Since the research was conducted, many of these projects have evolved considerably. However, the detailed case studies still provide relevant material for discussion and insight on the wide range of practical possibilities to promote diversity of cultural expressions through the arts. The introduction of the report presents five key principles to advance critical discourse in this field. Signed Dr Phillip Mar Distinguished Professor Ien Ang Institute for Culture and Society Institute for Culture and Society Western Sydney University Western Sydney University Lydia Miller Dr Tim Curtis Executive Director, Chief of the Culture Unit Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Arts UNESCO Bangkok Australia Council for the Arts Date 24th September 2015 A CASE STUDY REPORT 2 3 DIVERSITY OF CULTURAL EXPRESSIONS CONTENTS Diversity of Cultural Expressions 1 About the authors 1 Introduction 5 Case study summaries 17 Case studies 25 Visible 25 Arab Film Festival Australia 36 Edge of Elsewhere 48 Metaverse Makeovers 64 TransLab 75 Association of Northern Kimberley and Arnhem Aboriginal Artists (ANKAAA) 87 Kultour 104 black&write! 117 Appendix A: Interview list 129 4 INTRODUCTION The Convention on the Protection and The Australia Council already has a rich history Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural of strategic engagement with the promotion Expressions was adopted by UNESCO in and protection of cultural diversity in the arts. 2005. This Convention is a legally binding Previous Australia Council policies such as international agreement that ensures artists, Arts in a Multicultural Australia and the National cultural professionals, practitioners and citizens Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Arts policy worldwide can create, produce, disseminate speak to such strategies, which are concerned and enjoy a broad range of cultural goods, with making participation in the arts more services and activities, including their own. inclusive of all Australians, irrespective The Convention authorises ‘diversity’ as a key of background or personal circumstances. leitmotiv for cultural policy in the 21st century. Since 2007 the Council has adopted an In today’s interconnected, globalised world overarching Cultural Engagement Framework cultural diversity is no longer the peripheral with the aim of ensuring ‘that the artistic and to an otherwise mono-cultural centre, but a cultural skills, experience and resources resulting central dimension of the entire domain of culture from Australia’s social and demographic diversity and society. Diversity should be seen as an asset, are given the opportunity to develop flourish not a liability, for both individuals and societies. and contribute to a distinctly Australian style Cultural diversity is now seen as an essential of artistic excellence and innovation’. In its requirement of sustainable development, 2014-2019 strategic plan, the Council envisions because a world where diversity flourishes Australia as a ‘culturally ambitious nation’ that increases the range of choices for people and draws strength from its diversity of identities, communities, thus nurturing their capacities faiths, individual differences and pursuits. for creativity and innovation. Moreover, Supporting a diverse range of artists is a central promoting and protecting diversity is essential priority for the Council to better reflect and for world peace, as it boosts the potential for extend the diversity of cultural expressions creative dialogues resulting from interactions in Australia. of diverse cultures, both nationally and globally. This report presents a range of innovative artistic Australia became a signatory to this Convention and cultural projects, supported by the Australia in 2009. Signatories to the Convention take on Council, showcasing the wide variety of initiatives the ‘right and obligation’ to develop policies which contribute to the dynamism and vibrancy and adopt measures to protect and promote of Australia’s diversity of cultural expressions. the diversity of cultural expressions within These case studies can function as models their territory. In this regard, the Australia for a discussion about the development of Council for the Arts can play a leading role, ‘best practice’ in the promotion and protection not just in implementing the Convention in the of diversity of cultural expressions, not just Australian context, but also in advancing critical in Australia but internationally. reflection on what it means to nurture ‘diversity In this way, the report aims to improve dialogue of cultural expressions’. It should also deepen around, interest in and ultimately increased understanding of the different ways in which uptake of the Convention, not just in Australia, artistic work, which represents and extends and the wider Asia-Pacific region. The case cultural diversity, can benefit society at large. studies discussed are: This is the aim of this report. 5 DIVERSITY OF CULTURAL EXPRESSIONS The Association of Northern, Kimberley Visible is a music mentoring and support and Arnhem Aboriginal Artists (ANKAAA) program developed by Multicultural Arts is an organisation which supports Aboriginal Art Victoria (MAV), catering to musicians from Centres across these regions, ‘working together new refugee, immigrant and Indigenous to keep art, country and culture strong’. Australian communities. The Arab Film Festival Australia (AFF), initiated This report describes each of these projects by Information and Cultural Exchange (ICE) in in detail, with a focus on the intricate artistic and Parramatta, New South Wales, shares the stories organisational processes involved. Each project and culture of the Arab world with diverse is singular, utilises cultural resources and artistic Australian audiences through film. processes in unique ways. But across them black&write! is a program based at the State we can distinguish three distinct approaches Library of Queensland combining a national to promoting diversity of cultural expressions, Indigenous writing fellowship with a mentoring revealing their different priorities and rationales: program for Indigenous editors. a) The key aim in community-based approaches Edge of Elsewhere was a three-year (Visible, Arab Film Festival) is to support contemporary visual art project of the minority groups, under-represented in the Campbelltown Arts Centre and the 4A Centre arts, to participate in cultural life.