Why Is It Like It Is?

Sometimes I like to torture myself by trying to put my finger on why exactly the arts struggles so much. Here’s a few theories.

We’re Poor

I think part of the problem is that almost all of us are so underpaid and overworked that we don’t have time to stay on top of our own workload, let alone carving out time to think about advocacy or starting an industry-wide movement. We are so focused on making excellent art and supporting our own communities (as we should be). I myself am guilty of encouraging people to write to their MP, but then somehow never finding the time, energy, or motivation to do it myself.

While there are amazing individuals and organisations that do fantastic advocacy work (I now work for one!), maybe it doesn’t have the critical mass and powerful backing it needs like something like the sports industry does? I think this is mostly true and a contributing factor, but the be honest it smacks of victim blaming to me.

Old Rich White People in Canberra Don’t Care

Like so, so many social issues, I think the plight of the arts is severely affected because it’s just not important to the powers that be. I don’t have the space in this short post to go into how colonialism and systemic oppression forms the cornerstone of our governance structures, but suffice to say if it’s not about making a certain subset of people wealthier or more powerful, it doesn’t have much sticking power in Canberra. That’s a harsh and generalised view of course, but it’s pretty close. It takes a pretty progressive, kind, and altruistic set of leaders to make decisions that truly benefit people, even when it may not be politically savvy, and it feels like that’s only getting rarer these days.

It’s Not Important To People

For time immemorial we have bemoaned the fact that Australian culture is so heavily invested in sport, complete with absurd amounts of financial investment, nightly news coverage, and games attended by the tens of thousands. Even though we know arts and culture is vital to a thriving society, and it has incredibly inherent value, perhaps the larger part of the population doesn’t share that view, or doesn’t care. And if voters don’t care, why would politicians?

However, recent data has revealed that actually more Australians engage in arts experiences than in sports. The Creating Our Future: Results of the National Arts Participation Survey shows that in 2019 98% of Australians engaged with the arts, and of those, 68% attended live events ranging from festivals and music to dance and First Nations arts. 8% of Australians (aged 15 and over) created or participated in dance, and 16% (aged 15 and over) participated in community arts.

AusPlay provides national, state and territory data on almost 400 different participation sports and activities in Australia and who is participating in them. The 2019 report found that 90.5% of adults participated at least once a year in some kind of sport of physical activity. For adults, the most popular activities were Walking (43.3%), Fitness/Gym (36.7%), Athletics, track and field (16.4%), Swimming (15.6%) and Cycling (11.5%). 2.7% of Australia adults participated in Australian Football. For children, amongst the most popular activities were Dancing (recreational) (9.9%) and Australian Football (8.9%).

It’s not a competition, and I will not use this selected data to draw any definitive conclusions other than to say that in fact the arts are important to people and large parts of our population engage with them.

So, Do People Just Not Understand It?

I had a conversation with a colleague in which they they acknowledged that even though the arts are highly attended and engaged in, many Australians just don’t understand what the arts encompasses and how the arts ecology works. At a very basic level, I would hazard a guess that many people think artists make paintings for galleries, or obscure dance performances where they pretend to be trees. So even though people may watch films, attend music festivals, and go to the NGV Biennale, they may not perceive themselves as consumers of ‘art,’ and nor may they understand that all of these experiences are created by artists who need to be trained and supported to get to that point.

So how does one tackle something as huge as shifting an entire cultural mindset? I agreed with my colleagues suggestion that it probably lies in education … which is deeply ironic for me because I recently left a youth arts organisation, partly to pursue a career where I could have a bigger impact on the health of the arts sector. If we can create artistic experiences for young people, remove barriers to their engagement and participation, and foster and appreciation and understand for art and culture, then maybe we can create some positive generational change.

Thoughts?