Media Centre | Australia Council

Featured Media Releases

Investment in First Nations arts and culture through Cherish Fund

21 Dec 2020

The Australia Council has invested $1.4m in 37 organisations through the Cherish Fund, established to invest in First Nations arts and culture during a year of extraordinary disruption.

A communique from our CEO

18 Dec 2020

We are currently facing an historic opportunity. As 2020 comes to a close, we can rethink, reset and reimagine as we rebuild. We can draw on what we have learnt from 2020’s global disruptions, personal challenges and ongoing crises, and on what has sustained us through them.

Strong investment in youth theatre, literature and First Nations art in latest Australia Council grants

09 Dec 2020

The Australia Council’s latest arts projects grant round delivers $8.4 million to support 217 creative projects and cultural activities for the benefit of all Australians. Executive Director, Arts Investment, Alice Nash said the latest investment would fuel creative and cultural production and deliver public value.

Celebrating outstanding achievement at the 2020 National Arts and Disability Awards

03 Dec 2020

Emily Crockford, Gaelle Mellis and Abbie Madden have been named recipients of the 2020 National Arts and Disability Awards, presented by the Australia Council for the Arts and Arts Access Australia. On the International Day of People with Disability, the national awards recognise artists who have made an outstanding contribution to the artistic and cultural life of the nation.

Creativity in schools essential to preparing young people for future uncertainty and change

21 Oct 2020

New research released today by the Australia Council for the Arts provides powerful evidence for the wide-reaching benefits of creativity in education. Cultivating Creativity: A study of the Sydney Opera House’s Creative Leadership in Learning Program shows creative learning approaches help build confidence, improve academic engagement and prepare young people for future disruption and change. It also transforms teaching staff and the school community. The report reveals that applying creativity has the potential to holistically impact children – academically, socially and emotionally - and enhance learning across a range of academic subjects.

Connected by creativity – Australia Council year in review

20 Oct 2020

The Australia Council has released its latest Annual Report, Connected by creativity, detailing its investment in arts and creativity that connected Australians during 2019-20. During a year of radical disruption, the Australia Council’s investment supported 21.1 million live attendances in Australia (prior to COVID-19) and 7,855 Australian artworks with a public outcome through an exhibition, performance, publication or recording.

Statement regarding Australia Council funding for IMMACULATE

07 Oct 2020

It has been suggested in some fora that the Australia Council has overturned a peer-assessed funding decision in relation to Casey Jenkins’ IMMACULATE. This is not the case. It has also been suggested that the Australia Council has made this decision based on negative media coverage of IMMACULATE, or because of government intervention. This is also not the case.

New protocols on First Nations Cultural and Intellectual Property

29 Sep 2020

The Australia Council has today released updated Protocols for using First Nations Cultural and Intellectual Property in the Arts. The protocols address key legal, ethical and moral considerations for the use of Indigenous cultural material in the arts. Australia Council Head of First Nations Arts & Culture Patricia Adjei said the protocols are designed to promote greater understanding.

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Biographies

Thea Anamara Perkins: 2020 Dreaming Award for an Emerging Artist

Thea Anamara Perkins is an Arrernte and Kalkadoon woman. Raised and based in Sydney, she has family ties to the Redfern community and engages with the area through her painting and installation practice. In 2018 she was a lead artist participating in the restoration of the iconic 40,000 Years mural in Redfern.

SJ Norman: 2020 Emerging and Experimental Arts Fellowship

SJ Norman was born on Gadigal lands, and has a Wiradjuri and Anglo-Celtic heritage. He is a fearless experimenter, a rigorous researcher, a critically engaged maker and a formidable performer. SJ’s practice spans installation, sculpture, fiction, essays, poetry, video, sound and performance, including significant pieces of durational work. His practice is both unique and vital to contemporary Australian art and critical discourse.

Lydia Fairhall: 2020 Community Arts and Cultural Development Fellowship

Lydia Fairhall is a Woromi woman. She is a theatre and film producer, a community arts and cultural development practitioner, a writer, an artistic director, a musician and more. She has programmed and produced countless shows, for the likes of ILBIJERRI Theatre Company, Brown Cabs, Queensland Performing Arts Centre, Bangarra Dance Theatre, Sydney Theatre Company, Footscray Community Arts Centre and more, as well as taking titles such as JACK CHARLES V. The CROWN to international audiences.

Maree Clarke: 2020 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Arts Fellowship

Maree Clarke is a Yorta Yorta/WambaWamba/Mutti Mutti/Boonwurrung woman. She is an independent multi-disciplinary artist  and curator, with a 30 year history of working in the contemporary and cultural First Nations arts sector. Maree is a leading possum skin artist, also working with kangaroo teeth, echidna quills, glass, photography and more.

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