Communicating
the arts 24
Sydney
12-14 November 2019

The CSIRO identify 6 megatrends that will affect human existence for the next few decades. From social changes that will see an aging population living longer through to the mass extinction and climate events that we are just now getting a sense of. From the move to experiences rather than material objects through to the changing power dynamic in favour of the East and South. What role does Arts and Cultural activities play in reflecting our community concerns and giving us the tools to tackle an uncertain future? For millennia, the storytellers of the clan have helped shape the future and prepare society for advancement but we are seeing the corruption of the role of the artist to speak truth and help thread communities together. What are the ways Arts and Culture can play a role in carving out a sustainable future?

1.1 Practice Based Leadership: When artists disrupt hierarchies to guide strategic vision

This case study explores how generative practise and emergent methodologies interrupt traditional approaches to leadership in large institutions. Lily curates and invests in hidden moments of impact, and it is from this vantage that she propose these small engagements as significant sites of activation for strategic visioning.

1.2 The Producer as a Leader

Producers are a critical component in creating space for art and preventing burn-out, turn-over and drop-off in the performing arts sector, finding and creating resources and developing audiences and artists. After receiving the Rose Byrne Scholarship for an Emerging Female Leader in the Arts Imogen was given the opportunity to investigate the intersection between producing and leadership in the arts, especially among female producers who must navigate competing interests and gendered assumptions about leadership styles in their work.

Expectations are high of today’s arts leaders. We need to be careful and consistent but also nimble and daring. What happens when things don’t go to plan? Today’s cultural leaders are defined less by the end result and more by how they deal with the challenges along the way.

How do you navigate compromise whilst staying true to your vision? How do you prevail over institutional obstacles? When is the right time to change course?

Join Elaine and Anthony as they share their experiences and discuss how perseverance and resilience are essential characteristics of modern leadership.

3.1 Are we missing out on the biggest new audience in our cities? Asia Pop Fest 2017

Over 200,000 international students call Melbourne home and Mandarin is now the top language spoken by residents of Melbourne’s CBD (above English).

But how many cultural institutions engage with this huge young demographic, or even know what they are interested in? 6500 international students (and their pop curious friends) screaming themselves hoarse at Asia Pop Fest for AsiaTOPA 2017 in the Sidney Myer Music Bowl, showing a glimpse of this significant new cultural force- and new market- in our own city.

Arts Centre Melbourne’s Kate Ben-Tovim discusses her experiences in creating a major event for this demographic including marketing strategies, content curation and government / corporate partnerships. She will also reflect on future trends and opportunities for engaging young Asian audiences in Melbourne.

3.2 Sydney Opera House: Engaging Chinese audiences

Nic will discuss how Sydney Opera House relies on technology and partnerships to engage with Chinese audiences. The customer journey for a performing arts centre often starts online, transitions to an on-precinct experience, and ideally continues after a visitor has returned home. Should a cultural organisation strive for a uniform experience for all visitors?

Sydney Opera House considers its diverse audience when making decisions about its technology stack, workforce, products, and payment systems. It relies on CRM marketing to understand and communicate with its audience. How has growing international visitation influenced Sydney Opera House’s strategy and priorities? What were the pitfalls and mirages? 

1.1 Inclusion and owning the pipeline

Diversity advocate and leader Darin Conley-Burnley discusses diversity issues across the organisational matrix of the board, staff, art, patrons, donors.

1.2 Cultural Collaborative Leadership (includes an introduction from S. Shakathidaran)

In January 2019 Belvoir St Theatre embarked on its biggest ever production in its 35 year history – Counting and Cracking, a collaboration with Western Sydney based Co-Curious. Featuring a cast of 16 actors from six different countries, speaking in five languages and performing 50 characters, this huge show was a risky but absolutely essential undertaking for Australian theatre to remain relevant to our wider society. The bigger challenge was the five years leading up to the production in which two quite dissimilar organisations found the common language, aesthetic and determination to make this multi award-winning work and prove that culturally collaborative leadership takes time but if invested in sufficiently, reaps untold benefits. This presentation discusses the challenges, the compromises and the risks involved

2.1 Rising heart: steering the ship in times of change

The only constant in life is change, often though unforeseen events occur at once. Ashleigh Campbell, Director of KickArts Contemporary Arts is tasked with charting a new vision for the 27-year-old organization, currently undergoing building and internal redevelopment. This case study covers honing your emotional intelligence, practicing an adaptive leadership style, building unified teams and strategies for shifting habit through action to generate buy-in. 

 2.2 Leadership in inclusivity and practice, Identity and building brand for a start up theatre company

The National Theatre of Paramatta is one of Australia’s most dynamic theatre companies. In addition to producing high quality works it is also taking a fresh approach to theatre making where shows are not the end point, but part of the continuum of an evolving circle which encompasses artists, audience engagement and capacity building. The company is actively building creative communities that speak to a new wave of global theatre making where authentic, inclusive voices are welcoming new audiences and fresh formerly unheard voices are speaking to the future.

 3.1 HOTA: The Arts Centre as Community Leader

When Criena moved from Melbourne to develop the Gold Coast’s Culture Strategy 2023 the city had a reputation as Australia’s playground, a cultural desert best known for meter maids, schoolies and the glitter strip. Turns out, the GC is now investing more in artists, creative industries and cultural infrastructure than just about anywhere else.  Criena will speed date on how a perfect cultural storm was created including why top down strategy and political leadership is important, how placing artists at the heart of everything leads to success, why we need to leverage big moments like the Commonwealth Games and what it means to create a cultural precinct as a home for the arts. And why she genuinely has to wear her togs to work to see great local art.  

3.2 Arts Centre Melbourne: Collaboration at the centre

Over the past few years, the breadth and range of performing arts presentations at Arts Centre’s Melbourne’s own risk has increased and diversified.  Reflecting the transformation that was happening across Australia’s largest performing arts centre, the programming decisions had at its core the values of being inclusive, welcoming, collaborative and representative of our diverse population. The programs are compelled by urgent energies from here and around the world and illustrated by personal stories told by vital– and often underrepresented voices on Australian stages.

In taking risk through progressive programming, and by seeding and commissioning original works with industry partners, Arts Centre Melbourne has changed the way it does business.   

We’ll dive deep into a robust and evocative exploration into creativity, resilience, mindset and legacy. Learn about the neuroscience of resilience and how to harness creativity through the filter of a Legacy Driven mindset.

Gift Chansa is the Artistic Director of Circus Zambia – a creative hub and a company that equips young people with circus, life skills, social skills, entrepreneurship and job opportunities. He will discuss the work his team does in Chibolya, Lusaka in Zambia combining circus and life skills training and the long term affects this has in his community.

Understand Chinese media consumption habits, decision making processes of Chinese consumers, and how Chinese social platforms can be leveraged, to shape data driven strategies tailored to the unique China market. Whether you aim to strengthen your existing China strategy, or enter this market for the first time, get actionable tips that can be scaled to suit your goals.

1.1 John Mawurndjul: the Old and the New

A digital resource space, johnmawurndjul.com—driven and owned by the artist—was developed by the Museum of Contemporary Art Australia (MCA) to support the major retrospective exhibition “John Mawurndjul: I am the old and the new.” The website is a keeping place and digital platform to share the work, language, and knowledge of renowned Australian artist John Mawurndjul, a Kuninjku master bark painter from Western Arnhem Land. This session will show the process of making johnmawurndjul.com: how to create digital resource driven and owned by and artist and community; which questions were generated and how we resolved them; and the design choices and the UX experience.

1.2 The Big Sky

A case study on utilising a Country Centered Design approach to develop a curatorial vision and interpretive strategy for a new public site that explores the interconnected, seasonal and cyclical knowledges related to Indigenous astronomy. The session will include details about processes used that relate to culture, research, strategy and technology.

Whilst the creative sector’s growing ambition is met with increasing pressure on resources and staff, this workshop looks at practical ways to strengthen our resilience and bring more of ourselves to work every day. Edinburgh International Festival’s Tina Walsberger hosts a workshop with Energx Founder and Chief Energist, Sean Hall, who has helped many of Australia’s greatest brands grow staff wellbeing and productivity.

Peter Drew’s posters are a familiar sight across Australia – his ‘Real Australians Say Welcome’ and ‘Aussie’ campaigns took on lives of their own, attaining cult status and starting conversations all over the country. But who made them, and why? Artist Peter Drew explores the deeply personal motivations for his political convictions and asks whether art can play the role of ‘circuit breaker’ in todays increasingly polarised wider discourse – a provocation for all arts communication professionals.

1.1 Hyde Park Barracks: Sydney Living Museum

The UNESCO World Heritage-listed Hyde Park Barracks holds the key to understanding our city’s convict foundations, its impact on Aboriginal Australia, and early contribution to immigration and institutional care. 

The Renewal project delivers on the established Interpretation Masterplan, and aligns with the Conservation Management Plan, to unveil an extraordinary new journey. Layered with cutting edge innovation, the museum will redefine the heritage experience, bringing our complex past to life more authentically than ever before. 

1.2 A Library for All in a Changing World ; Introducing StartSpace, powered by State Library Victoria.

Founded in 1854, State Library Victoria is a venerable temple to knowledge and the fourth busiest library in the world, with over 2 million annual visitors. What happens when you introduce the quiet halls of a library to the contemporary demands of a bustling digital community?

The Library created StartSpace, a centre for entrepreneurship and innovation that will support the growth of new businesses in Victoria. It’s a big statement of intent about what the library of the future looks like, and how it support the needs of the people it serves.

Anna will explore what she wishes she had known at the start of the journey: from the impact on staff, the challenges of changing the operating model to the unexpected new expertise in air-conditioning limits.

2.1 Who owns the stories of our institutions: notes from the Louvre, Abu Dhabi

For museums, we know that being a repository of stories, although admirable, is no longer enough and that to be ‘Cultural Leaders’, we have to stand for more than we own. All of this is set against a global climate of growing nationalism, restitution cases, funding debates, questions of access and in the Middle East, additional complexities. 

Louvre Abu Dhabi‘s narrative takes a global, universal approach to telling a story of humanity – from our collection demonstrating shared histories, to our exhibitions contextualised within cultural connections between East and West, and our educational initiatives to nurture the next generation of cultural leaders. 

The current, heightened activist environment presents both opportunities and challenges to remain truthful and relevant. Two years since opening, we are giving the reins to others to tell our story, an ultimate truth for the museum we have built. I’ll share with you our approach.

2.2 Made in Hong Kong: a new reference point in museum storytelling

M+ is the new museum  of 20th and 21st-century visual culture in Hong Kong. Currently under construction in the West Kowloon Cultural District. This case study provides insight into how M+’s bilingual (Chinese/English) storytelling platform, M+ Stories, establishes the museum as a leader and innovator in visual culture storytelling. It explores how, as a new museum in Hong Kong, we are creating our own reference point, facing challenges regarding audience interaction, editorial strategy, and encompassing both local and global perspectives. Through projects such as M+ Stories, we need to be leaders in the cultural development of Hong Kong, laying the groundwork and informing what comes next.

3.1  Leading by design: reinforcing the value of theatre 

Forward thinking, bold and ambitious – as the home of new Australian writing, the tiny Griffin Theatre in Sydney’s King’s Cross has always punched above its weight. But it has recently faced severe funding cuts. Design agency Re shares how it partnered with Griffin to evolve its brand year on year, increasing awareness and donations. We share the trials and triumphs of bringing this unique theatre to wider audiences, while staying true to its original spirit.

 3.2 Turning The Big Ship  – rebranding the Australian Maritime Museum

After more than 25 years as a key attraction in the Darling Harbour tourist precinct, the National Maritime Museum has radically evolved its brand. In this lively case study hear from the museum’s Brand Manager Jackson Pellow about how and why the museum changed its stripes – the challenges, the triumphs and what he would do differently next time. Importantly, Jackson will also touch on how the new brand has also been a powerful catalyst for cultural change within the museum as well as the delivery of experience-led exhibitions.

Paddington Tour

On the Contemporary Art Tour we will explore some of Sydney’s contemporary galleries and institution in Paddington. Our tour will takes us to Cement Fondu (www.cementfondu.org), an evolving arts space with an visual art program featuring performance, dance and music by Australian and international artists. Dominik Mersch Gallery (www.dominikmerschgallery.com), presenting finest artists at the forefront of contemporary art practice and Roslyn Oxley9 Gallery (www.roslynoxley9.com.au) with a rich history of supporting contemporary art and fostering the careers of some of the most influential Australian artists.