Who has the right to decide what art is made in Australia today? How does public investment in the arts shape our culture? And why should we care?
These are the questions facing New South Wales right now following the minister for the arts Don Harwin’s announcement that artist peer assessment for arts grants has been replaced by “artform boards” of his choosing, and that dedicated funding for artistic projects no longer exists. Artists will now have to compete directly with requests for major capital infrastructure in one and the same funding round, making NSW likely the only government in the world to end its commitment to artists as central to funding programs…
IMAGE: Justine Youssef welcomes us with a collaborative feast to Movers and MakersMovers and Makers at Parramatta Artists’ Studios on 25 May 2019. Photograph by Esther Anatolitis.
ESTHER ANATOLITIS 