Protocols for working with Indigenous artists
As primary guardians and interpreters of their cultures, Indigenous people have well-established protocols for interacting with their cultural material. New situations also require cultural protocols.
Spend a minute in the arts: Bruce Pascoe
Bruce Pascoe’s award winning non-fiction book Dark Emu, published in 2014, is a monumental work of scholarship that disproved the long-held myth that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples were nomadic hunter gatherers before European colonisation
Spend a minute in the arts: Graham Akhurst
Graham Akhurst is on a path of self- leadership, empowered by the transformational skills and techniques learnt through the Australia Council’s Future Leaders Program. Brisbane born Graham is now on his way to Manhattan New York, to share the stories of his people through his literary craft.
Spend a minute in the arts: Ikuntji Artists
More Australians than ever are engaging with First Nations arts, expressions of the world’s oldest living culture and storytelling that stretches back for millennia.
Spend a minute in the arts: Backbone
Backbone tosses around the perception of what strength is and its limits. Backbone continues the stellar trajectory of Adelaide’s no-frills acrobatic sensations who are taking the world by storm.
Annual Report 2017-18
'We know that art can reshape our perspective and transform lives in unexpected ways. The arts build social cohesion. They give us narratives to navigate our world.'
Tony Grybowski, Former Chief Executive Officer, Australia Council for the Arts
Rhoda Roberts AO: Australia Council Ros Bower Award
Patricia Adjei, our arts practice director of First Nations Arts & Culture, introduces the recipient of the Australia Council Ros Bower Award for Community Arts and Cultural Development, Rhoda Roberts.
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Arts
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander arts are a rich contribution to the world’s culture, and to Australia’s diverse contemporary culture and national identity.
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander arts include classical, traditional and contemporary practice, including all new forms of cultural expression. This is applied across all art forms and in urban, regional and remote areas.
The Australia Council for the Arts regards Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures as living forces with their own strengths and influences, not as remnants of the past. We aim to make these cultural expressions of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people a source of pride for all Australians.
The value of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander arts activity to individuals, families and communities is significant culturally, socially and economically, and its potential is significant in all communities. Research by the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (RMIT) and the Telstra Foundation about the role of Indigenous festivals highlighted not only the economic benefits but improved well-being, as people reported that they had an increase in cultural pride and self-esteem stemming from a sense of inclusion and cultural identity.
Protocols Working with Indigenous Artists
Applicants working with Indigenous Australian artists, who are funded by the grant assessment panels of the Australia Council, are required to adhere to the Indigenous Cultural protocol guides published by the Council as a condition funding.
The protocol guides are available free on the Council website:
Music: Protocols for Producing Indigenous Australian Music
Writing: Protocols for Producing Indigenous Australian Writing
Visual Arts: Protocols for Producing Indigenous Australian Visual Arts
Media Arts: Protocols for Producing Indigenous Australian Media Arts
Performing Arts: Protocols for Producing Indigenous Australian Performing Arts
Funding
Funding is dedicated to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, groups and organisations. This funding is assessed wholly by Indigenous peers.
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, groups and organisations are welcome to make applications for activities with vibrancy in artistic and cultural expressions.
Need help with your application? Contact a Grants Officer now
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander arts are a rich contribution to the world’s culture, and to Australia’s diverse contemporary culture and national identity.
Closing the Gap
The Australia Council’s submission to the Closing the Gap Refresh advocates for increased investment in First Nations arts and cultural expression, cultural maintenance, and First Nations-led culturally based solutions across portfolios. It draws on the growing body of evidence showing participation in arts and culture supports outcomes across the Closing the Gap framework.
Our submission was developed in collaboration with our First Nations stakeholders. First Nations peoples’ indivisible rights to culture and self-determination are central in our submission. For decades, First Nations peoples have advocated for the critical role of culture – as a necessary part of the solution to Indigenous disadvantage, and for the healing and strengthening of individuals and communities. However, culture has been the missing element from the Closing the Gap framework to date. Funding for First Nations culture made up just 1% of total direct government expenditure for Indigenous Australians in 2015–16, and cultural outcomes have not featured in the measurement framework.
Now is the moment to invest in the inherent value and foundational role of strong culture in the Closing the Gap agenda.
Click here to read more.
Highlights
Annual Report 2017-18
The Council invested $14.1 million in First Nations artists and communities in 2017–18. Of the 128 small to medium organisations supported through Four Year Funding, 13% are led by First Nations people.
Strong success for First Nations artists in Australia Council Fellowships
Australia Council CEO Tony Grybowski congratulated all of the Fellowship recipients, saying they represented some of Australia’s most exceptional artistic talent.
Making Art Work
The Australia Council for the Arts has released new research which examines the economic conditions faced by practising professional artists in Australia and their increasing value to society and the future of work.
Jacob Boehme: Australia Council's new First Nations Arts Fellow
Jacob has a 20 year history working in contemporary and cultural Indigenous Arts sectors as a director, producer and theatre maker.
