Papers

Asialink Arts Forum 2000:

Special Projects

Forum Papers

ART AND THE COMMUNITY - ISSUES FOR INTERACTION

The speakers

The second Asialink Arts forum, entitled "Art and the community - issues for interaction" between Australia and Asia, grew out of a specific project that Asialink is pursuing between Australia and Indonesia.

Professor Andrea Hull led off the discussion:

"Most of the visual arts projects that Asialink has organized in Asia have been between particular visual arts institutions, the museums, the galleries etc and seen by the elite. There's been engagement between artists and there's been acknowledgement of Australia's creative work and that's all been very good. But what happened really between Australia and Asia is that we haven't really engaged with the majority of a creative country like Indonesia, our nearest neighbour".

"Australia has a terrific track record and a strong infrastructure of artists who work within a community context. In fact Australia for many decades has been seen probably as one of the world leaders in community cultural development. So the challenge for us today is to explore whether there is a way to encourage artists who work with communities here to work with artists and communities in a place like Indonesia. We also have a long term commitment to see sustained and enduring relationships with Australia and Asia, particularly through the arts and through artists."

Asialink Chairman Carrillo Gantner sent a message to the forum:

"This is our second annual arts forum. Last year's question was very general, about future directions for Australia and Asian arts activity. Our speakers and group discussions brought forward some key words, which have very much helped steer Asialink's course over the last year and indeed frames this year's forum very well. The key words were cross art form, cross cultural, reciprocal activity. The area of arts and community, and indeed our own new project encouraging cross art form, reciprocal activity with Indonesia, perfectly leads from last year's message. However, what is talked about today should be a wider agenda than Asialink can or should control."

"Asialink is a small fish. Indeed the stream of Australian international affairs in which we swim, which last year was starting to show a turn of the tide, now seems to be rushing full force against us. This is not news. A cover Bulletin article earlier this year was titled "Why we are Asia's Bad Neighbour". In the article Michael Maher quoted a Malaysian banker asking "What's going on with you Australians? One minute you want to hug us. The next you only want to shake our hand!" Certainly funding from the Federal Government is changing away from Asia - just look at the international activities highlighted last year by the Australia Council, almost every project was taking place in Europe, with the main exception of the Pacific Arts Festival in Noumea, which, it should be noted, was described in the official literature as part of mainland France. So much for the old policy of 50% of the Council's international spending being for projects to do with our own region. It is funny how this message seeps into people's consciousness. We have had people tell us how they leave out mention of an Asian component of grant applications now."

"There does need to be a debate on this. Asian cultural life continues to grow and become more sophisticated. Just this week there have been articles in the press about Asian film now being seen as leading the world. Just at the time that we prove to the sceptics in Asia that we ARE just short term friends and Australia Week in London echoes around us. I know it makes everyone at Asialink despair after years of saying "no, we are here for the long haul" to have this happen so smoothly and easily."

"Our artists continue to work with neighbours of the region. Our project in Indonesia seems a great opportunity to encourage strong creative relationships that we hope can weather the political tornadoes going on overhead. It's between close neighbours, with creative people, working with communities: what better hope is there for us?"

Five speakers then led the discussion:

Fazal Rizvi, Pro Vice Chancellor International at RMIT and has an extensive record in International education. He established the Monash Centre for research and international education and has a PHD in philosophy and education from Kings College in London. He has served on many Boards including the Australia Council (1992 to 1995) and the Australia Foundation for Cultural and Humanities (1995 to 1998). Born in India, Rizvi has written and talked extensively about globalisation, cultural identity, the arts and public policy as well as the politics of the Australian engagement with Asia. One of his books is "Culture, Difference and the Arts" published in 1994.

Margaret Seares is the Chair of the Australia Council and she also has a day job as Pro-Vice Chancellor, Community and Development at the University of Western Australia to which she was appointed in 1997. In 1995 she accepted a two year secondment to the West Australian Government, where she was CEO of the Department of The Arts. She is also currently a member of the Foreign Minister's Australia International Cultural Council and a Director of the Australia Foundation for Culture and the Humanities.

Rhana Devenport is the Senior Project Officer for the Asia Pacific Triennial at the Queensland Art Gallery in Brisbane. She has written and spoken about the issues of contemporary Asian arts in many forums here and overseas. She has led museum training workshops for the ASEAN community and staff for Asialink. She has curated exhibitions of Australian art in the region and has been deeply involved with all aspects of the Australia Pacific Triennial. In 2000, She undertook an Asialink Arts Management Residency at the Fukuoka Art Museum of Japan.

Chi Vu is a writer, performer and theatre facilitator from Melbourne. She has written and directed a number of plays including The Rush, and A Story of Soil, and published short stories in a range of anthologies and journals. Chi Vu moved to Australia from Vietnam as a child but still speaks fluent Vietnamese. While on a residency in Vietnam Vu worked on a play and a number of short stories about her impressions of Vietnam as an Australian returning, and she describes this time as "a life-changing experience". In Hanoi she gave a rehearsed reading of a bilingual play with Vietnamese and other nationals and later worked with the Ho Chi Minh City Theatre company. On her return Vu's play A Story of Soil was presented at the Footscray Community Arts Centre and aspects of the production were filmed by a Vietnamese documentary film maker visiting Australia and screened nationally in Vietnam. Chi Vu is now in the process of editing the writing done in Vietnam for publication.

berni m janssen is a writer/performer and project manager, currently developing Australians Online, an ABC initiated large scale community publishing project on the internet, with the pilot site in Gippsland before the roll-out across Australia. Janssen has also been the Creative Director of FlightPaths, a text based collaborative project which began as a set of writers-in-residency in 5 airports across Australia in 1996. Since the early nineties she has co-ordinated the Writing Programs of Next Wave Festival, St.Kilda Festival and Melbourne Fringe Festival. She will be working with the Literature Division of the Cultural Centre of The Philippines to develop a writing-based project and expand the FlightPaths network internationally, as part of an Asialink Arts Management Residency.

For further information, please contact:

Alison Carroll
Manager, Arts Program
Email: a.carroll@asialink.unimelb.edu.au
Phone: 61-3-9349 1899
Fax: 61-3- 9347 1768