Some people think the arts are not for them; that they’re about opera or ballet or paintings other folk like to hang on their walls. From my travels around Queensland as Minister for the Arts this year I can confidently vouch for arts and culture being a whole lot more than that.
Art and culture are all around us every day. From the design of our morning coffee or tea cup and the clothes we wear each day to the books and magazines we read and the music we hear at the local shopping centre; someone somewhere had to get creative so those things could be produced for the rest of us to use, admire and enjoy.
As I visit communities throughout Queensland, it’s hard to find someone who hasn’t heard some great live music, read a good book or even had a go at being creative themselves. Recent research told us nine in 10 Queenslanders attended or participated in the arts in 2009-2010, and 17 per cent of Queenslanders volunteered in the arts.
I am repeatedly impressed by the diversity and quality of arts and cultural activity going on all around our state, and its capacity to touch hearts, stimulate minds, and enrich lives: from the Choir of Unheard Voices made up of people experiencing mental illness in Mackay to one of the world’s great orchestras, the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, performing at QPAC in Brisbane, and simulcast to reach from Mt Isa to Gladstone.
Five years on from the opening of the refurbished State Library of Queensland and the new Gallery of Modern Art (GOMA), there have been a staggering 18 million visits to the Cultural Centre, South Bank.
Our annual Cairns Indigenous Art Fair has resulted in more than $1.7 million worth of artwork sales, benefiting artists and their communities, and there has been more than $4.1 million direct tourism expenditure in the local Cairns economy.
In 2011 the Queensland and Australian Governments are supporting creative arts recovery programs in three of the communities worst-affected during our Summer of Disasters. Over the next three years this partnership will also invest in Rockhampton as one of two centres of culture and creativity in Australia.
Of course it’s no secret that Queensland has become a hive of creative activity. The rest of the world has begun to take notice. Earlier this year, the Art Newspaper ranked the Queensland Art Gallery and GOMA as Australia’s most popular gallery and the 18th most attended art museum in the world.
In 2007, the music industry bible Billboard Magazine named Brisbane as one of the world’s top five contemporary music ‘hot spots’. This recognition reflects the lively local music scene that has produced the likes of Powderfinger, the Go Betweens, the Boat People and recent chart toppers Hungry Kids of Hungary and Washington. These and other talented artists provide the soundtracks to our lives.
So where to from here for arts and culture in Queensland? We want to hear from you. That is why we’re opening a conversation with Queenslanders about how government, business and the community can work together to build on the great cultural successes that you can read more about in the Creative Capital: Arts and Culture Strategic Direction for Queensland paper on the Arts Queensland website.
I hope you’ll join us in shaping the next stage of Queensland’s creative future.
The Honourable Rachel Nolan MP
Minister for Finance, Natural Resources and the Arts
Image: Mariana Martin, Journey Music, Swell Sculpture Festival 2011. Photo: Rowly Emmett
December 9, 2011 at 6:40 pm
I took the time today to read the creative capital document with some trepidation as nearly every publication that emanates from the AQ office blows the big trumpet of how great the government is. I must admit the document left me cold and uninspired. Of course the focus mainly was on the big gigs GOMA etc – how much money does the government plough into this facility (of that 136 million in infrastructure)and ongoing funding – whats the percentage of operational funding of the total given to arts orgs that GOMA receives. And how much does that gallery do for Qld artists? and you just gave GOMA a million bucks for one sculpture by an international artist when the amount of public art work available to local artists is dwindling. Maybe we need to revisit the percent for art scheme again. One could go on about the detail but what concerns me more is just how this paper is going to incite major discussion in the arts community. There is no blueprint or outline of what this paper is meant to achieve – will the comments ever be listened to? We all know that once Arts Qld funds any organization they assume total control of the organization and therefore set the agenda for arts in the state. How about getting some real vision for the arts that is about the future – let go of all the creative industry fashionable talk (yes we know governments like it because it is about economy) and again the increasing investment in products – be they festivals or objects. This government is obsessed by product – l remember an earlier arts minister who loved to attend openings/events because they were visible manifestations of the arts and of course he liked to be seen but he knew little of the arts orgs beavering away supporting artists and communities.
Lets look closely at all the infrastructure spending – are we really going to need places like art galleries etc in the future? who is going to be making the art in the future – how much money goes into building the professional development of artists? Yes govt supports ARIs but only for young artists. I would rather see an artist in every school than the huge amount of money poured into supporting large organizations and festivals. we need to start in the schools to make art a part of people’s every day world. I simply refuse to believe all of the statistics that say that 9 in 10 Queenslanders participated in the states cultural life – its like the creative industries slogan that arts provides billions to the economy – these broad statements are meaningless unless you break them down and find out some more detail – what kind of cultural experiences; what key industries provide the billions to the economy – it sure as hell is not paintings on walls. I run art galleries and l can tell you it is hard to justify these facilities when you get 10 to 20 people a day in the door just to see an exhibition (we don’t have the big bucks like Goma to get major artists nor the marketing money to put an advertisement on every bus stop) Of course l want more people to come in and we try very hard through workshops and other activities to do it but in reality to many people art galleries are only relevant for a small part of the population. I guess what l am trying to say is lets stop all the pompous chest beating about how great we are etc ..look l started the Floating Land event in Noosa and to describe it as one of Australia’s great green art events is to begger belief. lets get real – work out better ways to have broad discussion about the future of the arts in Qld and stop producing promotion for Arts Qld.
December 12, 2011 at 4:01 pm
Read more about how 9 in 10 Queenslanders engage in the arts at the Queenslanders and the Arts webpage at http://www.arts.qld.gov.au/publications/bums-on-seats.html
The summary report and fact sheets provide a breakdown of what Queenslanders participate in and attend and their attitudes and beliefs regarding the arts.
The data in More than bums on seats: Queenslanders and the arts was obtained through a computer-assisted telephone interview of the Queensland population, weighted using the Australian Bureau of Statistics’ 2006 Census data for Queensland against age, gender and geography. The data was collected by market research company, instinct and reason, and is a representative sample of the population of Queensland. For further information about what was asked and definitions see http://www.australiacouncil.gov.au/resources/reports_and_publications/subjects/audiences_and_cultural_participation/arts_participation_research_more_than_bums_on_seats