Australia’s arts sector faces a watershed moment, argues Samuel Cairnduff. In a social environment where binary media is deepening divisions, the arts have the opportunity to become the leading space for nuanced discourse – but only if there are major changes in cultural leadership.
The late Queen Elizabeth II famously dubbed 1992 her “annus horribilis”. While 2024 may not have quite reached that level of royal tumult, it certainly proved to be an extraordinarily challenging year for leaders of Australia’s cultural institutions. The sector was marked by deep divisions amongst stakeholders, early departures of key figures and bitter controversies that played out in both local and international media.
Within a matter of months, the sector witnessed an unprecedented exodus of...
Continue reading
Get unlimited digital access from $4 per month
Already a subscriber?
Log in
Two things: The former Artistic Director of the Adelaide Festival unexpectedly resigned ‘for reasons that were not explained’. I’ll explain them. She got a better job offer which was presumably better paid, and decided to put personal ambition ahead of the good of the company. Secondly, surely it’s not the job of artistic organisations to bend over backwards to please various ‘stakeholders’ (ugh!). It should be precisely the reverse. Said ‘stakeholders’ shouldn’t become involved, unless they are willing to accept the greater knowledge and experience of the people running the show, and support them through inevitable financial and political ups and downs which are part and parcel of all arts companies that ever existed!
What a quote: “However, leading Australian First Nations director Wesley Enoch calls for artists and cultural leaders to embrace their role as society’s moral compass in safe spaces. Speaking to me on the Decoding Cultural Leadership podcast, he insists, “The arts should be a very soft place to have a disagreement.”
And Wesley is on the Ozco board that’s just unanimously sacked Khaled Sabsabi. It’s Jason Gilham all over again!