WA’s arts sector has a solid foundation to build on in terms of a new federal policy.
IN late January, arts ministers across the country gathered for the launch of a national cultural policy titled ‘Revive: a story for every place, a place for every story’.
A five-year plan to renew and reinvigorate Australia’s arts, entertainment and cultural sector, Revive aims to ensure creative workers, organisations and audiences continue to grow and thrive.
Arts, entertainment and culture sit on a continuum.
At one end are the high arts – ballet, opera and the like – and at the other is professional sport, with entertainment such as concerts and festivals in between.
Whether it is a single night or a season, we instinctively know being part of something that delights, challenges and (maybe) even shocks us is good for the soul.
Be it the thrill of the Scorchers’ recent Big Bash League final win or attending a festival show, we are enriched by the experience.
Measuring that level of enrichment isn’t easily quantifiable, with the number of tickets sold a de facto measure of success, although this tells only a small part of the story.
I am a life member of Artrage and a huge fan of Fringe, having been part of its genesis in 2013.
I have loved being in the Spiegeltent, sitting thigh-to-thigh in a packed house to enjoy the headline acts.
However, one of my favourite shows was in an intimate venue with a visiting comedian delivering the history of Scotland at breakneck speed.
He had us in stitches from beginning to end. I recall Perth Festival’s larger-than-life marionettes in 2015 – The Giants – which captivated tens of thousands of people as they wandered the city’s streets.
Perth was proud of itself for weeks afterwards for having turned up to participate in something unknown that surprised and delighted us.
The same goes for its 2020 Highway to Hell extravaganza, which reclaimed Canning Highway for one night on behalf of AC/DC and the band’s iconic song inspired by our westerly connection to Fremantle.
Along the continuum, no genre is sticking to its lane. Sport is a good example of how the lines are blurred when it comes to before-, during-, and after-game entertainment.
As a rugby union fan, I know some of the sport’s diehard supporters object to the razzamatazz of gameday, whereas other fans expect it. This crossover creates a competitive landscape, one in which the audience and its cultural participants should benefit.
Too often they have not. Aboriginal friends of mine have been asked to do a Welcome to Country for free or at a reduced rate, yet it is our cultural custodians who have been keeping places and stories alive for millennia. It is particularly pleasing to see this acknowledged and emphasised in the Revive policy.
Revive was announced in the same week American artist Jackson Pollock’s controversial painting Blue Poles was revalued at $350 million, about 50 years after it was purchased by the National Gallery of Australia for $1.3 million.
Its purchase in 1973 set the highest price paid at the time for an American work anywhere in the world, with then prime minister Gough Whitlam ridiculed.
Reflecting on the controversy, Shira Wolfe, writing for Artland Magazine, writes its acquisition: “Sparked a major controversy in Australia as people protested against the high price paid for it … Taxpayers complained it was a waste of their money, and with few exceptions, the responses towards the painting, the National Gallery and the government were negative.”
A city that can capture the hearts and minds of its politicians and community to support the entire spectrum of arts, culture and entertainment is on to a winning formula. Lonely Planet named Perth ‘dullsville’ in 2000, but its most recent evaluation tells a completely different story.
“Under a near-permanent canopy of blue sky, life here unfolds at a pleasing pace.
Throw in superb beaches, global eats and booming small-bar and street-art scenes, and Perth seems downright progressive,” it says.
Perth is vibrant during festival season and Revive lays the groundwork to achieve our collective aspiration for this to be the case year round.
- Marion Fulker is an adjunct associate professor at UWA.
