Things I've Heard about Regional Artists

Advocacy Paper

 

Regional Australia is full of excellent, rigorous, exciting and tenacious professional performing artists, organsiations and companies, doing great work that amplifies the voices of regional Australians. However, there still exists a suite of significant misconceptions and assumptions about the reality of being a performing artist practicing in the regions, perceptions that create great challenges for regional artists to face.

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This paper, a research project supported by the Australia Council through a  residency at Sydney Festival in 2019, is the outcome of a nation-wide examination of the voice and needs of independent professional regional artists, and how organisations, venues and festivals can better engage with non-metro artists, audiences and communities.

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Structured around things people say about the regions, and also things regional artists want you to hear, Things I've Heard about Regional Artists lays bare the metro-centric perspectives around arts and cultural work in Australia, raises the voice of independent regional artists, and offers some potential strategies in how we, as a sector, can contribute to greater visibility, viability and sustainability for regional artists and their cultural communities.

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You can read the full paper by clicking here.

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This project has been assisted by the Australian Government through the Australian Council, its arts funding and advisory body.