Advocating for the arts - share your experience!
Have you engaged in advocacy / lobbying / campaigning for the arts in your region / country? Share your experience!
We are collecting practical examples of advocacy strategies carried out by our members and addressing local or national policy-makers. We aim to publish a short compilation that builds on previous discussions at IETM meetings and helps to continue the conversation at the future meetings. Could you please answer the following questions based on your practical experience in your country?
1. Did you engage in any advocacy activity / strategy addressing your local / national policy-makers in recent years? Please describe briefly: what was your goal, what did you do (actions, targets...), when, and if you achieved your goal or not (results).
2. Did you engage in a full strategy or in one / a few activities?
3. Did you work alone (only your organisation) or did you find partners / allies? Who were them? (e.g. colleagues, neighbours, friends...)
4. Can you name the 3 main challenges you had to face?
If you prefer to remain anonymous, please email me: elena.difederico@ietm.org (possibly before March 8th). Thanks!
Hi Elena,
There was a big campaign in Australia after the Australia Council for the Arts' funding was cut in 2014 - interrupting a new initiative to fund companies for longer (6yras instead of 4yrs) and try to get away from the political cycles (elections every 3yrs). The money was given to the Arts Ministers office to manage and a new fund was created. In some ways it was helpful to have another source of funding but individual artists were not able to apply. The sector outcry was impassioned and sustained through a senate enquiry, when govt officiials recieved over 2700 submissions from different parts of the sector. Eventually, after four years, some of the money was returned to the Australia Council. During the 2014/15 campaign I joined regular meetings in Sydney for the theatre and performing arts sector here. There was a very active campaign at the time of the last federal election delivered through venues and audience lists. Actors stood up after curtain calls and asked the public to help. At the time I was working for a small touring organisation and we engaged through the companies and venues we were touring with. Below is a link to the Senate findings and another to an interview with David Pledger who was one of the spokespeople during the campaign. In it he talks about his work in Brussels.
Finally, the government was returned to office in 2016 by a slim margin, the arts minister responsbile lost the portfolio and the rest of the money was returned in 2017. This action has done huge damage to the independent sector and the repercussions are ongoing. The best result was the campaigning and communication that started amongst the arts community and a feeling that the protests had worked.
http://mpegmedia.abc.net.au/rn/podcast/2015/08/bay_20150805_1015.mp3
Thanks Pippa! That's exactly what I'm looking for! Hope others are willing to share their experiences...
Hi everybody, if you're coming to Porto this week and you have some experience in advocacy for the arts at your national/local level, I'd be happy to hear from you! You can find me in the sessions on Fair international collaborations and Bullying and harassment (Friday), and those on Decolonising imagination and Greening as a holistic approach (Saturday). Or, even easier, at the Sunday brunch!
Our toolkit is taking shape and we want to make sure it features inspiring examples from our members.