FROM THE BOARD
22 February 2012 at The Tea Room Queen Victoria Building Sydney
To book click here
The former Chief Justice of NSW reminisces about Arts Boards he has known and recalls the effort, the contribution and the enrichment which the experience has brought him. He is currently the Chair of the National Library of Australia.
Read Ailsa McPherson on The Empire Actors here
The Empire Actors is reviewed in Popular Entertainment Studies 2.1. 117-121
Katharine Brisbane gave the lecture IN PRAISE OF NEPOTISM
Read it here
The Philip Parsons Lecture was given on 27 November at Belvoir Street Theatre
INDIG-CURIOUS: WHO CAN PLAY ABORIGINAL ROLES? by Jane Harrison
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David Unaipon had a commitment to sharing his stories with non-Aboriginal people. What can we make of this? Did he mean they have the freedom to adopt Aboriginal myths and stories without qualm, without recourse, without responsibility? Or did he merely hope that they would be valued as part of our country’s cultural expression? How, if ever, can Aboriginal themes be 'used' in a way that is acceptable to Aboriginal people? How can non-Aboriginals interpret their work? Neither Homer nor Shakespeare are around to defend their work, but Aboriginal people are alive and outspoken about how they are depicted on the page, stage and on the screen. Muruwari playwright Jane Harrison tackles this intractable issue and finds a way forward.
DEMOCRACY V CREATIVITY IN AUSTRALIAN CLASSICAL MUSIC by Nicole Canham
People working in the classical music sector today, writes Canham, have lost connection with the larger public. We are not facing up to the fundamental question: “Why don’t you, or wouldn’t you, come to our concert? Or if you were to come, what would you like to see/hear?” Today we are in the middle of a creativity revolution, inventing new forms of popular culture in which everyone can be a participant.
Join Nicole's blog
Click here
The new book by Nick Herd
THE REAL STORY OF THE TELEVISION WE HAD TO HAVE.
The conduct of a commercial television service is not to be considered as merely running a business for the sake of profit. Because of the influence they can bring to bear on the community, the business interests of licensees must at all times be subordinated to the overriding principle that possession of a licence is a public trust for the benefit of all members of our society.
PMG Charles Davidson to Parliament on the passing of the Broadcasting and Television Act 1956.

Platform Papers 25
Erin Brannigan has provided an important catalyst with her considered, complex and persuasive study which is a pleasure to ponder on. It should be on the reading list of every dance and creative arts course and disseminated widely through the industry.
Cheryl Stock, choreographer and dance educator
www.currencyhouse.org.au/node/129

Platform Papers 27
Any blogger will know the weird sense of beginning an online ‘conversation’. It's akin to delivering an informal lecture to an empty auditorium. In most cases, you're met with silence. This is no different from a newspaper review, or a novel, or a message scratched into a bus stop seat.
John Bailey, Melbourne arts journalist and bloggist
www.currencyhouse.org.au/node/185
We will send you:
Title
HELLO WORLD! Promoting the Arts on the Web
Author
Robert Reid
Platform Paper Issue#
27
ISBN13
978 0 9807982 4 1
Purchase Options
PUBLISHED APRIL 2011
One of the most dizzying examples of the transformative power of the Internet has been the popular emergence of self-broadcasting websites and individual blogs. Only last month the world watched, dazzled, at the speed with which news was transported, supporters amassed and consensus achieved, apparently invisibly, by the citizens of Cairo in Tahrir Square. Audiences for these social media are no longer restricted to receiving information from a central broadcaster, they engage in a dialogue by generating and publishing their own content.
For the performing arts community these changes present significant opportunities. This paper identifies these developments and explores their capacity to replace the heavy tools of mass communication with more flexible instruments of self-expression. The potential is infinite, writes Reid, but progress itself is not without risk, including IT addiction and information overload. He highlights areas of conflict, such as current copyright and intellectual property legislation, issues of site administration, privacy and quality control, and discusses opportunities for the arts with some of the leading experts in the field.
Robert Reid is a freelance playwright and director based in Melbourne, and is artistic director of the independent theatre company, theatre in decay and the experimental puppet company terrible COMFORT. He has been a regular blog writer on theatre and established the Australian Playwrights Group on Facebook.
Published with the support of the Sidney Myer Fund