Page 768 - Week 03 - Tuesday, 19 March 2019
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undertaking the inaugural Canberra/Wellington Indigenous artist exchange. We have such a fantastic cohort of local young artists, and for that we should be thankful. We are very lucky.
On top of that, the ACT does not require permits for buskers, and in Canberra we have not had to deal with lock-out laws. We have a small handful of much-loved venues that have continually supported up-and-coming artists, venues such as Smith’s Alternative and the Phoenix pub, which provide a platform for young artists from multiple genres and disciplines. Sadly the Phoenix has again had to close its doors but I hope that, as a phoenix, it will rise again.
There is a lack of arts venues in Canberra, and the majority that exist are struggling. At the arts roundtable put together by federal Greens candidate and musician Tim Hollo earlier this year, many young artists said that they felt frustrated by the lack of opportunities for them here in Canberra. We have young talented people moving interstate not because they want to but because they simply do not have the same options here as they do elsewhere. For people who care about the arts sector in the ACT, this is a serious and sad matter.
So what can we do? How can we make art and young artists thrive in our community and make our community thrive through art and promote lifelong art making? We must support our young artists, including by providing them with platforms for their art. We need to invest in arts education. We need to find affordable spaces. We need to encourage young artists to stay here in Canberra and to build up the scene here.
We are the national capital. We should also be the national arts capital, but I do not believe we are quite there yet. That is through no fault of our artists. We must strengthen the position of arts in the community. We need a cross-sectoral approach. This can be achieved by integrating arts into urban planning. Public art brings life into public spaces. We used to do more of that in the past and we could do more of that now.
We need to work to create the right regulatory environment for arts to flourish, and artists, educators and venues should be consulted in this. A strong arts scene is important to a thriving society. If we place too many obstacles in front of young artists, then our society as a whole loses.
The condolence motion that we talked about this morning, about Christchurch, is another reminder that if we want a compassionate, inclusive society—and clearly everyone here in the Assembly does; we were all shocked by Christchurch—arts is one of the things we can support to make a compassionate, inclusive and artistic society.
Discussion concluded.
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