Presentations
Reports on each of the World Summit sessions are provided below by clicking on the session title below. Where we have been provided with a copy of a speaker’s presentation, this is linked to the speakers name in the programme below and is also linked to the speakers profiles on the speakers page. Please note that the presentations are large files and may take some time to download.TUESDAY 4 October
PLACE
A sense of country and connection to the land is central to Indigenous peoples. As the landscape, environment and societies evolve, the broader community is also increasingly aware of the inextricable link between culture and place.
KEYNOTE SESSIONModerated by Robyn Archer AOJacques Martial talked about the links between culture and place. He is President of the Parc de la Villette in Paris, one of the best funded cultural institutions in France. While in the past local residents, many of whom are from North Africa, used the park for family leisure and play, very few entered the major cultural facilities which are integral to the park. Jacques Martial came into the Parc with an express policy for inclusion, both for those local residents and the arts and artists from France d’Outres-Mers: he will tell us how this is playing out and about his plans for the next five years. He has also been actively engaged in the region which includes Guadeloupe and Martinique and can offer a perspective on the arts there.
Eduard Miralles responded from a crucial point of intersection. How can local governments ensure that their cultural policies allow for the kind of radical cultural inclusion of long-resident minorities and recent arrivals as described by Jacques Martial? How can policy balance the sometimes conflicting emotions of artists and residents in the increasingly diverse mix of populations in our big cities and neighbourhoods? And what are the other cultural priorities for local government in the twenty-first century?
PANEL SESSION - My PlaceRocco Landesman, Pooja Sood and Lachlan McDonald talked about the creative intersections in three very different places in the world, and how the creative projects they are involved in are very much determined by the particular nature of their place. The economic revival of struggling American towns, an urban village in New Delhi, and small communities in the vast spaces of remote Western Australia all point to the specifics of ‘place’ and their intersection with the arts. The session was moderated by Professor Paul James.
ROUNDTABLES1: Indigenous wisdom of place (Supported by Creative New Zealand)
Dr Treahna Hamm (artist, Australia, of Yorta Yorta and Wadi Wadi peoples), Vernon Ah Kee (artist, Australia, born in North Queensland of the Kuku Yalandji, Waanji, Yidindji and Gugu Yimithirr peoples) Tainui Stephens (independent film and television producer, New Zealand, Te Rarawa). Moderator: Louise Profeit-Leblanc (Aboriginal Arts Coordinator, Canada Council, from the Nacho Nyak Dun First Nation of the Yukon Territory in Northern Canada).
The Earth’s Indigenous peoples have a richly layered connection to ‘country’. This intimate knowledge can inform 21st century environmental behaviour, especially through the arts, but also has the ability to influence multiple perspectives on contemporary art and life. The particular relationship of Indigenous artists to their sense of place is not only important for their own art, but offers vital pathways for all the arts. There is much to learn, and this is the table for fashioning a policy initiative which would enable that knowledge and art to be better understood and more widely disseminated.
2: A climate for change (Supported by the Asia-Europe Foundation as part of its Connect2Culture programme)
Vincensius ‘venzha’ Christianwan (Artist, House of Natural Fiber, Indonesia), Theo Anagnostopoulos (Founder, SciCo, Greece), Alison Tickell (Director, Julie’s Bicycle, England), Pooja Sood (Director, KHOJ International Artists’ Association, India). Moderator: Angharad Wynne-Jones (Producer, Tipping Point Australia).
There are multiple initiatives throughout the world for addressing the effects of climate change. Many artists, especially in the visual arts media, have addressed the issues through their work, but how can policy ensure best practice? There are excellent individual examples such as Julie’s Bicycle in London, the Sydney Theatre Company’s award-winning Greening the Wharf, and numerous individual festivals insisting on recycling and carbon offsets. Can policy pick up on these individual initiatives and ensure more widespread adoption of environmentally sustainable practices in the arts?
3: Rebuilding communitiesMaría Victoria Alcaraz (Director General, San Martín Cultural Centre, Argentina), Komi M’Kegbe Foga Tublu (Manager Cultural Heritage, Ecole du patrimoine africain, Benin), Pilar Kasat (Managing Director, Community Arts Network, Western Australia). Moderator: Elise Huffer (Culture Adviser, Secretariat of the Pacific Community, Fiji).
When remote areas or fragile systems are hit by unexpected disturbances such as drought, flood, earthquakes, fire, but also shifting economies, job-loss, diminishing population and resources, how can the arts help rehabilitate such communities? Many artists, both local and visiting, want to work with affected communities and the communities are often keen to welcome artists into their midst. What are the policies that can facilitate such collaborations? In this session, our starting point examples are a ‘cultural first aid kit’ developed in response to the Chilean earthquake, the place of culinary art specific to the Batammariba people in building cultural tourism for Togo and Benin, and the inspirational story of resilience and hope in Narrogin, a wheatbelt town in Western Australia.
4: Invigorating cities Moira Sinclair (Executive Director, Arts Council England, London), Say Kosal (President, National League of Communes/Sangkats, Cambodia), Marcus Westbury (Founder, Renew Newcastle and Renew Australia), Eduard Miralles (Cultural Relations Advisor, Barcelona Provincial Council, Spain). Moderator: Sue Beal (Chair, Cultural Development Network, Australia).
Cities have become a hot topic. Recently the global balance gently tipped to a place where, for the first time in its recorded history, there were more people living in cities than not. And cities are growing. There are infinite ways in which the arts play a role in these places where rich and poor increasingly live side by side, and diverse cultures of age and race jostle. Are arts policies responding to these realities or are new frameworks required?
5: Changing places - evolving cultural policies in Asia (Supported by ASEF/culture360.org, an online portal of the Asia-Europe Foundation)
Dr Chaitanya Sambrani (Lecturer, art historian and curator, Australian National University School of Art and Social Sciences, Australia), Shen Qilan (Editor, Art World Magazine, China), Dr Kiwon Hong (Assistant professor of cultural policy, Sookmyung Women’s University, Korea), MaLou Jacob (Executive Director, National Commission for Culture and the Arts, Philippines). Moderator: Lesley Alway (Arts Director, Asialink, Australia).
This roundtable took as its starting point the intersection of arts and cultural policies with international relations and more specifically the context provided by the shifts in geopolitics and world economies in Asia. It has been acknowledged that we are now living in the ‘Asian Century’ as the focus of economic development shifts from West to East, particularly through the emergence of the two new super economies - China and India.
This transference of economic power and influence has been accompanied by increasing interest in cultural engagement from within, without and across Asia. At the government level, this intersection is often referred to as ‘soft-power’ and whilst it risks collision with ‘nation-state’ marketing, it also provides new avenues for the arts to develop new bilateral and multilateral platforms for engagement. Additionally, some of the most stimulating projects have been generated from non-government and private initiatives.
6: Screening the landscapeVilsoni Hereniko (Director, Oceania Centre for Arts, Culture, and Pacific Studies, Fiji), Steven Loft (Trudeau National Visiting Fellow, Ryerson University, Canada). Moderator: John Oster (Chief Executive Officer, Indigenous Art Code, Australia)
With the background of Vilsoni Hereniko’s film The Land has Eyes, and others such as Warwick Thornton’s uncompromising portrayal of central Australia, Samson and Delilah, we discuss how screen-based arts paint powerful pictures of place. Baz Luhrmann’s film Australia was used by government tourism departments to leverage’ promotion for clear reasons. Does arts policy abandon screen to commercial forces, and if not, can it do more? What sparkling new policy initiative would allow screenbased arts to fulfil their 21st century potential?
7: Global connectivityDr Mario Merialdi (World Health Organisation, Switzerland), Jo Dorras (Wan Smolbag, Vanuatu), Katelijn Verstraete (Asia-Europe Foundation, Singapore). Moderator: Rose Hiscock (Executive Director, Arts Development, Australia Council)
The economic responsibility of developed nations towards developing nations is globally acknowledged, but have we taken the same level of responsibility in the arts? Artists have taken the lead in global collaborations of all kinds. Cultural ‘fusion’ is age-old and continuing, but are we doing the same in policy and arts-support?
At this Summit we had many participants from wealthy countries with healthy arts budgets and formal frameworks. But we also had participants from countries which have art and artists, but little or no formal policy frameworks or support for the arts. What are our responsibilities and how can we put them into action?
8: The outer limitsErica Seccombe (artist, Australia), Professor Tim Senden (Professor, ANU College of Physical and Mathematical Sciences, Australia), Gavin Artz (CEO, Australian Network for Art and Technology). Moderator: Pia Waugh (IT Policy Advisor to Senator Kate Lundy and Digital Culture Sphere Coordinator, Australia).
Throughout history there have been artists who have leapt to use new technologies (electric light, recorded sound, photography, film etc). As advances in science and technology increase exponentially in the 21st century, artists’ experimentation abounds and in many cases reveals new potentials to their inventors. How does arts policy enable and support these collaborations and what would be the one big new policy shift or idea that would help arts keep in step with science in coming years?
9: Moving fast and flexible – the changing landscape of digital technologies Becky Schutt (Fellow, Judge Business School, Cambridge University, England), Shane Simpson (Special Counsel, Simpsons, Australia), Pius Knüsel (Director, Pro Helvetia, the Swiss Arts Council). Moderator: Katherine Watson (Director, European Cultural Foundation, Netherlands).
The digital revolution has the power to strike fear into the hearts of anyone working in traditional real time/real space artforms. The fear is that download culture will eat away at traditional arts audiences and its popularity with digital natives will eventually see arts support shift to these newer forms of creativity and away from books, theatre, live music etc. But many see the huge opportunities that digital technology and communications can bring to artists and artforms, if they can open up and embrace them.
WEDNESDAY 5 October 2011
PEOPLE
The impact of the arts on the human landscape and how artists engage with community concerns such as crime prevention, poverty reduction, social cohesion, health and education will underscore the day’s discussions.
KEYNOTE SESSIONModerated by Robyn Archer AODr Tim Greacen made the claim that without health there is no creativity and vice versa. From his perspective as both psychologist and singer, he has explored the way health and the arts are intertwined. He has written extensively on doctor/patient relationships and advocated successful arts/health programmes such as Video et Sante which offers a pathway to mental health through new skills and creativity. He has also worked throughout the world in programmes for people with AIDS.
Jo Dorras and Danny Marcel, members of Wan Smolbag will respond from the perspective of a theatre company based in Port Vila for more than 20 years. They are not funded through a culture programme or policy, but largely through foreign aid which supports their social welfare and health programmes over a wide, inclusive base throughout Vanuatu and its remote islands. They have a particular focus on sexually transmitted diseases through the arts of drama (theatre and TV) and music, and create skills development opportunities in all branches of these media.
PANEL SESSION – OUTSIDE THE COMFORT ZONE
Paul Komesaroff, Lucina Jiménez and Mike van Graan (traducción español) talked about those places where the arts intersect with real danger. In many places the arts are still viewed as a luxury and many of us are proud to describe the arts as a safe place to discuss dangerous issues, but there are places where just being an artist is dangerous, and others where art is obliged to intersect with armed conflict, serious unrest, and their consequences. The session was moderated by Amanda Smith (Presenter, Artworks, ABC Radio National, Australia).
ROUNDTABLES10: Across the divide .Martin Drury (Arts Director, the Arts Council Ireland), Bilel Aboudi (Deputy Director of International Cooperation and External Relations/Public Services Advisor, Ministry of Culture, Tunisia). Moderator: Anne Dunn (Consultant, Australia).
What is the nature of the relationship between policy makers and arts practitioners and how might we bridge that gap? Could there be a new system of structures that enable holistic intersections with the myriad sectors that exist in society? As Martin Drury has written ‘The profile of the decision-makers and the vested interests of the “arts sector ” are among many barriers to full public participation in the arts. The creative intersections which were the focus of this Summit are part of a Cartesian geometry that never quite succeeds in squaring the circle. What might the alternative geometry look like?!’
11: Getting traction with arts and education policiesMichael Wimmer (Founder and General Manager, Educult, Austria), Linda Lorenza (Senior Project Officer, Arts, Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority). Moderator: Lucina Jiménez (Anthropologist, Mexico)
The field of arts education and arts in education is awash with enthusiasm, passion, good thinking, even better intentions and new policy initiatives. But how much actually changes? Why have some countries succeeded in establishing well funded and effective arts education programmes, while others are losing ground due to changing political situations, and still others have yet to win the case for arts in the curriculum? How can arts education policies be more robust and what are the connections, actual and potential, between arts, artists and policymaking? Learn more about what the tensions are and help tease out the one big thing that might actually work for everyone.
12: Sante! Arts and wellbeing Dr Tim Greacen (Director, Maison Blanche Research Laboratory, France), Pamela Udoka (President/Artistic Director, Children’s Arts Development Initiative, Nigeria), Raelene Baker (Principal Indigenous Advisor, Arts Queensland, Australia). Moderator: Professor Ruth Rentschler (Board member, VicHealth, Australia).
Research increasingly yields more evidence about the positive effects of the arts on human health. And it is coming at us from all angles and in all media: from ambient colour, design and music to skills development and practice by patients themselves - the arts work at many levels. The field in focus here is mental health, but the session will also consider the physical health perspective and all speakers have an intimate association with the arts in this context. From a dense field we need one beautiful flower to rise up as the most effective new policy initiative.
13: Who put the ‘dis’ in disability?Gaelle Mellis (Resident Designer, Restless Dance Theatre, Australia), Emma Bennison (Executive Officer, Arts Access Australia). Moderator: Becky Llewellyn (Director, Disability Consultancy Services, Australia).
The world abounds with goodwill towards the inclusion of everyone into the arts, whether as artist, arts-worker or audience. But there is often a cost associated with accessibility and inclusion, and when funding feels the squeeze, the temptation is to cut back on practical applications. The wellmade plans are dis-continued, dis-missed and the extent of the problem sometimes dis-guised. So what’s possible? And what’s most needed at this time? The answer to those questions is what this session should take to the final plenary.
14: The art of misdemeanourAndrew Dixon (Chief Executive, Creative Scotland), PANG Khee Teik (Arts Programme Director, Annexe Gallery, Malaysia) and Scott Rankin (Big hART, Australia) Moderator: Lydia Miller (Executive Director, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Island Arts, Australia Council).
The intersection of arts with what Scott Rankin has called ‘outsider culture’ has produced surprising results, as has the work of artists in prisons and in other contexts outside the law. While rehabilitation may be the key concern on the inside, and political action on the outside, the fact is that art often reaches beyond the immediate objectives. Good writing, good music, good visual art and video, theatre and screen-based work can emerge from the ‘inside’ and at the outermost edge. Where and how could policy have an effect on the potential of these transactions?
15: Interculturality: Creating dynamic intersections Professor Michael Mel (Pro Vice Chancellor, University of Goroka, Papua New Guinea), Paula Abood (Arab Australian writer), Nike Jonah (Project Manager, decibel Performing Arts Showcase, Arts Council England), Dr Tim Curtis Programme Specialist for Culture, UNESCO office Bangkok, Thailand). Moderator: Magdalena Moreno (CEO, Kultour, Australia).
When people of diverse cultures meet and engage, a dynamic space is created. This session explores the creative environment that emerges when cultural diversity is at the heart of the artistic synapse. The 2005 UNESCO Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions states that cultural diversity is a driving force of development, not only in respect of economic growth, but also as a means of leading a more fulfilling intellectual, emotional, moral and spiritual life. What role can cultural policy play in stimulating the potential for living encounters where the unscripted more often than not has the most significant and systemic impact?
16: It’s not just a case of ‘show me the money’Anmol Vellani (Executive Director, India Foundation for the Arts), Rupert Myer (Philanthropist and Chair, National Gallery of Australia), Ariunaa Tserenpil (Director, Arts Council of Mongolia). Moderator: Louise Walsh (Director, Artsupport Australia, Australia Council).
The place of philanthropy in the arts differs spectacularly from country to country, even city to city. Where governments do support the arts, from time to time they are inspired by the level of philanthropy in the USA and crave that situation for their own countries. Yet the global financial crisis has proven how fragile such a system is. What is the relationship between the philanthropic spirit and public policy in the arts? Should it be more than just a matter of input credits? What is at the heart of the creative intersection of artists and private generosity? Is something else needed in policy terms?
17: Not such strange bedfellows Edna dos Santos-Duisenberg (Chief, Creative Economy Programme, UNCTAD, Switzerland), Farai Mpfunya (Executive Director, Culture Fund of Zimbabwe Trust), Elizabeth Ann Macgregor (Director, Museum of Contemporary Art, Australia). Moderator: Professor Justin O’Connor (Professor, Creative Industries Faculty, Queensland University of Technology, Australia).
There was a time when some artists scorned corporate investment in the arts and commercialisation of culture was seen as cynical and shallow; but now it is understood that on the one hand artists can work in genuine collaboration with corporate partners, and on the other hand they can become businesses in their own right. The worldwide interest in public policy that supports ‘creative industries’ is partly a response to a new breed of artist that sees no conflict between art and business. Is there however a conflict between support for those arts which have commercial potential with those that will always need subsidy? How does policy deal with it?
18: Finally – the numbers Professor David Throsby (Professor of Economics, Macquarie University, Australia), Dr Audrey Yue (Lecturer, University of Melbourne, Australia). Moderator: Annamari Laaksonen (Research Manager, IFACCA Australia).
Statistics on the arts, how they are collected and how the arts are evaluated in formal ways may seem dry stuff to artists, but they are invaluable when it comes to mounting arguments for policy which drives support for the arts, arts education, regional priorities etc. How can the numbers be most effectively gathered and applied, and how do we ensure that the arts retain their freedom of expression and operation aside from the need for formal evaluation?
OPEN SESSIONS – CREATING CONNECTIONSAfter the hard work in the roundtables, and as the rapporteurs work to present in the final plenary on Thursday, this was the delegates' chance to pursue their own interests and pick two sessions from an eclectic array of options that, in one way or another, relate to the idea of creative intersections. Presentations ranged from projects to publications, case-studies to artworks.
FIRST SESSION
Presentations by delegates, including the performance below by Jacques Martial.
Mauricio Delfin, Culturaperu.org
Maryam Rasihidi, PhD Candidate, Research School of Humanities & the Arts, Australian National University, Australia
SECOND SESSION
Further presentations by delegates.
Hossam Nassar, Deputy Minister, Ministry of Culture, Egypt
Hilary Ogbechie, Acting Director - Extension Services, National Council for Arts & Culture, Nigeria
Mahiriki Tangaroa and Michael Gunn, National Museum of the Cook Islands and National Gallery of Australia
In the first session, in Plenary 1, Jacques Martial gave a special delegates-only performance (in English) of L’echange, Notebook of a Return to My Native Land, Aimé Césaire’s seminal prose/poem which coined the word ‘negritude’ and was ubsequently taken up by America’s Black Rights movement. This work was co-commissioned by 10 Days on the Island (Tasmania) and has been performed all over the world including before the French President on the occasion of the anniversary of the Abolition of Slavery in France.
THURSDAY 6 October 2011
POLICIES
Having explored Place and People, we concluded the Summit by considering the policies and programmes that might help underpin resilient partnerships between artists and other areas of society.
WRAP UPModerated by Robyn Archer
Professor Brad Haseman (Queensland University of Technology, Australia) summarised the discussion from the first two days and in particular the roundtables on PLACE and PEOPLE. He outlined some of the key ideas for arts policy initiatives (POLICIES) to support artists to intersect with broad social issues while maintaining the integrity of their development and practice.
FINAL KEYNOTE SESSIONA session to promote some food for thought and action.
Alison Tickell (Julie’s Bicycle, UK). For many global citizens environmental sustainability is the most important issue of our time. While many in the arts express their concern, just as many still struggle with how they can affect the kinds of changes which will make a difference. Julie’s Bicycle is a shining example of achievement in this area and should inspire us to move towards equivalent goals in our own spheres. The session was moderated by Robyn Archer AO.
Co-hosts Presenting Partner
