"Does
Australia need a cultural policy?"
A discussion forum at the Byron Bay Writers Festival
9.30am - 11.00am, 4 August 2006
The Byron Community & Cultural Centre
69 Jonson Street, Byron Bay
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"We stand at a critical point in our development as a
nation.... There is a sense in the air that as a society we are economically wealthy
but culturally impoverished ... or at least uncertain about what our cultural
values are or in what direction they may be changing."
–
Professor David Throsby, "Does Australia Need a Cultural Policy?" Currency
Press Platform Paper, 2006
Regional Arts NSW and the Northern Rivers Writers Centre present a discussion
panel on the topic of the need (or not!) for cultural policy for Australia. The
forum will be held before an audience as part of the Byron Bay Writers Festival.
The panellists are:
- Professor Ien Ang
- Neil Armfield
- Margaret Fink
- John Harding and
- Professor David Throsby
The session will be followed by morning tea and lamingtons
for panellists and the audience.
Be a part of it!
To book at ticket for this free event
(and ensure your lamington and cup of tea!) send an email to admin@regionalartsnsw.com.au before 1 August, ring Jetset Byron Bay Tel 02 6685 6554 or pick your ticket up
from Jetset, Shop 6, Old Bakery Complex, Cnr Marvell & Jonson Streets, Byron
Bay.
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Professor Ien Ang
Professor Ien Ang, the founding Director of the Centre for Cultural Research at
the University of Western Sydney, is a leading figure in cultural studies worldwide
and a prominent public commentator in Australia. She focuses on media and cultural
consumption, identity politics, the changing new world (dis)order, migration and
ethnicity, and issues of representation and inclusion in our cultural institutions.
Books include 2001's On Not Speaking Chinese: Living Between Asia and the West,
Living Room Wars: Rethinking Media Audiences for a Postmodern World (1996)
and Desperately Seeking the Audience (1991), all published by Routledge.
Neil Armfield
One of Australia's foremost directors, Neil Armfield is the Artistic
Director of the internationally renowned Company B, at Belvoir Street Theatre
in Sydney, and Director of the feature film, Candy.
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Margaret Fink
Margaret Fink, indomitable producer of feature films including The
Removalists, My Brilliant Career, For Love Alone and Candy,
and television's 3 part drama Edens Lost. She also kick-started the careers
of Judy Davis, Sam Neill, Hugo Weaving and Gillian Armstrong among others.
John Harding
John Harding (Kuku/Erub) is a founding member and current President of Ilbijerri
Aboriginal /TSI Theatre Company and has worked tirelessly in the pursuit of Indigenous
artistic expression in the arts and particularly theatre. He also developed the
first Aboriginal current affairs program on ABC TV, Blackout, in 1989,
and in 1996 wrote the first Aboriginal vignette sit-com series, The Masters,
for SBS TV as part of ICAM Series 1 & 2.
John directed his last three plays, Second Helping in 2005, Enuff
in 2002 for the Blak Inside season at the Playbox, and No Parking in 2001
for the Bless Your Big Blak Arts Festival.
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Professor David Throsby
David Throsby is Professor of Economics at Macquarie University and is internationally
known for his work in the economics of the arts and culture. His book The Economics
of the Performing Arts, co-authored with Glenn Withers, has become a standard
reference work in the field. His most recent book, Economics and Culture,
was published in 2001 by Cambridge University Press and earlier this year Currency
House published his much discussed Platform Paper, Does Australia Need a Cultural
Policy?
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The "Does Australia need a cultural policy?"
discussion forum is sponsored by Regional Arts NSW
and the Northern Rivers Writers Centre.
