<
https://theconversation.com/what-good-is-a-new-national-cultural-policy-without-history-188741>
"Alongside much else that is being revised, reimagined or recast by the
Albanese government, Australia is to have a new cultural policy. Consultation
has involved town hall meetings and a call for submissions. The arts minister,
Tony Burke, has established five review panels to consider feedback.
First Nations artists and culture are at the centre of Burke’s invitation. The
emphasis on the artist not just as creator but as worker responds to the
pandemic’s devastating impact on the already-parlous circumstances in which
artists and writers often live and work.
The other pillars of this cultural-policy-in-the-making highlight the diversity
of stories and artists, building audiences and the strengthening of cultural
institutions.
The review panels are brimming with respected and innovative creators and
producers, with decades of collective experience.
But their coverage of the sector is patchy. Our concern as historians is with
history, publishers and the “GLAM” sector – galleries, libraries, archives and
museums.
While there is representation from galleries and collecting institutions on the
panels, there is not a single historian, publisher or archivist whose feedback
will help shape Australia’s cultural policy.
Given the importance of history in defining our sense of national selfhood, and
the role publishers, libraries, archives and museums play in preserving,
collecting and presenting Australian histories and stories, these fields being
absent from the national cultural policy panels is a disappointing oversight."
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
