There’s no doubt that the arts and cultural sector is facing a crisis in Australia. After years of cuts, the gig economy, undermining of the public and democratic value of the arts, and the ever-widening gap between haves and have-nots, the sector has been slammed by the pandemic, with long-term consequences set to last years.

The way out of this mess cannot be incremental tinkering, but rather a transformative reset of policy and advocacy – a bold new public agenda for the arts.

How do we return arts and culture to their rightful place in public policy? What would public reconstruction of the arts look like? How could we create a fairer deal for artists and arts workers? What kind of new ‘policy imaginary’ can place arts and culture at the heart of a healthy, diverse, inclusive, and participatory democracy?

Reset: A New Public Agenda for the Arts offers two days and nights of thinking and discussion about how the arts and cultural sector could work to break out of the current impasse through a radical reorganisation of cultural practice and policy.

Promising two days of big ideas and conversation, the 33 speakers from around Australia include:

  • Kirstie Parker (journalist and policy leader, Yuwallarai), Jacob Boehme (Director, First Nations Programs, Carriageworks, Kaurna/Narungga), and Daniel Riley (incoming Artistic Director, Australian Dance Theatre, Wiradjuri), in a keynote conversation about ‘Caring for Stories in a time of Separation’
  • Tony Burke MP (Shadow Minister for the Arts) presenting a keynote ‘Reset and Real Recovery: a vision for the future of Australian arts and culture’
    Artists and curators, including Ali Baker, Elaine Crombie, Jared Thomas, Julia Zemiro, David Pledger and Jo Dyer
  • Writers and commentators, including Alison Pennington, Andrew P Street, Ben Eltham, Esther Anatolitis, Julianne Schultz and Tory Shepherd.
    Senator Sarah Hanson-Young (Spokesperson for the Arts, Australian Greens) and Scott Ludlam (author and former Australian Senator)

Presented by: Arts Industry Council of South Australia and Reset (Flinders University, University of Adelaide, and University of South Australia), in association with the Don Dunstan Foundation.

>>> Program details and how to register