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Celebrating Indigenous arts and culture

NAIDOC Week has inspired us to celebrate all things Indigenous by sharing some great Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander arts and cultural data.

 

Engagement in Indigenous arts and culture

Indigenous arts and culture is central to the lives and identity of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics

  • 2 in 3 Indigenous people aged 15 years and over participate in selected cultural activities and over 1 in 4 actively participated in Indigenous arts
  • Indigenous arts and crafts were the most popular creative arts activity with 17% (56,600) of Indigenous people taking part at least once in the 12 months prior to survey.
  • Approximately 15% participate in story-telling and 11% actively participated in music, dance and theatre.
  • Over 7 in 10 Indigenous children aged 4-14 years were involved in cultural events, ceremonies or organisations.

 

People in remote areas have higher participation and the benefits flow

According to recent Australia Council research Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples in remote areas have higher participation in arts and cultural activities. Those who do participate have markedly better physical and mental health and self-reported happiness (1) and are more likely to complete secondary school and be employed. (2)

 

Interest in Indigenous arts and culture by all Queenslanders is growing

Arts in Daily Life: Queenslanders and the Arts 2013 data evidenced that amongst the general population in Queensland in 2013

  •  63% expressed a strong or growing interest in Indigenous arts (up from 58% in 2009)
  •  9 in 10 (93%) agreed that Indigenous arts are an important part of Australia’s culture (up from 88% in 2009)
  •  Interestingly though, only 49% agree that Indigenous arts are well-represented in Australia
  •  1 in 4 Australians had attended Indigenous arts in 2013, slightly up on 2009 with the greatest gains in attendance at Indigenous visual arts and crafts in Queensland up from 11% in 2009 to 18% in 2013).

 

The Indigenous arts economy is thriving

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander culture makes a very important cultural and economic contribution to Australia’s cultural economy. The Indigenous visual arts sector is the largest contributor to the Australia arts economy of all Indigenous art forms. Indigenous visual artists produce some of Australia most valuable works of art and Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander people represent 15% of Australia’s painters.

 

Remote community art production is a major source of commercial income

Art production is the main source of commercial income for many remote communities with art centres. Between 2008 and 2012, remote Indigenous art centres generated around $53 million in art sales, with $30 million paid to artists.(3) Approximately 40% of art sales are reinvested in art centres which are community hubs. They provide employment and other social and cultural benefits as well as producing and marketing some of Australia’s most vibrant and dynamic visual art.
 
Nearly two thirds (65%) of artists who have received resale royalties are Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander artists. The royalties generated by these Indigenous artists is close to $2.6 million which is almost half of the total royalties generated since 2010.

 

International visitors more likely to choose an Indigenous culture experience

Over the last four years, the number of international tourists to Australia has grown by 13 percent while the number of international arts tourists has increased 19 percent to 2.4 million in 2013–14.  Tourism Research Australia  research has found that international visitors are more likely to participate in Indigenous culture such as experiencing Aboriginal art/craft or cultural display (22%) of visiting an Aboriginal site or community (11%) than domestic overnight and domestic day visitors.

 

Arts Queensland funding for Indigenous Arts and Culture achieves great returns

The Queensland Government invests in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander arts and cultural development predominantly through two major programs – Backing Indigenous Arts and the Indigenous Regional arts Development Program.  Based on available data across Backing Indigenous Arts and the Indigenous Regional Arts Development Fund (at March 2014)

  •  $19.5 million was invested by the Queensland Government in the BIA and IRADF programs from 2007-08 to 2012-13
  •  16,576 artists participated in 2,931 professional development activities to improve their artistic skills and make their work more marketable
  •  21,300 community members were actively involved in program activities and events, of which 108 focussed on cultural retention
  •  805,986 people attended events, performances and exhibitions which were supported by 2,312 volunteers
  •  2,419 artists and arts workers gained (mainly) part-time employment, mostly in remote areas of Far North Queensland where alternative employment options were limited
  •  $33.8 million in income was generated from earned revenue and other government investments, as well as private and philanthropic sector contributions, representing a return on Queensland Government investments of $1.80 for every $1 invested.

Arts grants expenditure raw data, including Indigenous arts grants expenditure  is available on the Queensland Government open data portal  https://data.qld.gov.au/dataset/arts-grants-expenditure.

If you like this post you might also like these posts from 2015

 

Notes:
 
All notes quoted in in Australia Council for the Arts 2015, Art Nation: An Overview of Australian Arts
 1.ABS 2010, ‘The city and the bush: Indigenous wellbeing across remoteness areas’, in Australian Social Trends, Sep 2010, (cat. no. 41020.0), 29 September.
 2.Dockery AM 2011, ‘Traditional culture and the wellbeing of Indigenous Australians: An analysis of the 2008 NATSISS,’ in Social Science Perspectives on the 2008 National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Survey, 11–12 April 2011, CAEPR, ANU, Canberra and
 3.Woodhead A and Acker T 2014, The Art Economies Value Chain reports: Synthesis, CRCREP, Research Report CR004, Ninti One Limited, Alice Springs.