OZCO FUNDING

Djakapurra Munyarryun and Matthew Doyle opening Australia's new Pavillion at the Venice Biennale - giving Indigenous value to the Australia Council

Jeremy Eccles | 17.05.16

Author: Jeremy Eccles
News source: Press Release

There's been a huge furore over the Black Friday announcement of arts-funding cuts for small and medium arts enterprises by the Australia Council. Sixty-two organisations that had previously enjoyed multi-year funding lost out – including a depressing number that prioritised making work with young or inexperienced artists. Meanwhile, 128 organisations were successful, picking up a total of $28 million a year, including a surprising number of Indigenous-lead organisations. Indeed, the Australia Council claims that more than 40% of successful applicants (that's 52+) identified an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander arts and culture component to their work.

I've listed 19 that are clearly going to be involved in making Indigenous art, employing Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Artists, or displaying the art. Some surprises are included – the Gadigal Information service offers Koori Radio in Sydney; while the Kimberley Aboriginal Law and Culture Centre Aboriginal Corporation would seem to herald a return to the halcyon days of a body like the Aboriginal Cultural Foundation, which was primarily concerned with the maintenance of culture and ceremony rather than making art for sale. And then there's ANKAAA, Desart and Umi Arts – all bodies that support their region's art centres. But no funding for IACA covering Cape York and the TS Islands; the Aboriginal Art Centre Hub of WA; or Ananguku Arts in the APY Lands. That's a lot of Australia left out!

And then there's funding for the Cairns Art Fair but not for the Darwin Aboriginal Art Fair, celebrating its 10th anniversary this August.What's the diff?

Why this matters – as it certainly does for the 62 arts organisations that had been dependant on a reliable income source from Ozco – is that there are no more funding rounds for this sort of regular money until 2020; though with brutal logic, Ozco CEO Tony Grybowski claims that “no one has been de-funded”, because they can still apply for inconsistent project funding every time they have a good idea! The 128 successful 4-year recipients, on the other hand, cannot get project funding as well.

So, while commiserating with the 132 organisations that applied and were declared uncompetitive by their peers who assessed their claims, let's celebrate the 19 Indigenous arts organisations (listed with their annual funding) that should support Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander art-making bountifully until the end of 2020:
Artback NT Arts Development and Touring Inc NT $300,000 Multi-Arts
Association of Northern Kimberley & Arnhem Aboriginal Artists NT $215,000 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Arts
Barkly Regional Arts Inc NT $300,000 Community Arts and Cultural Development
BlakDance Australia Ltd QLD $175,000 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Arts
Cairns Indigenous Art Fair Limited QLD $250,000 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Arts
Central Australian Aboriginal Media Association NT $266,000 Music / Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Arts
Desart Inc NT $300,000 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Arts
Gadigal Information Service NSW $200,000 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Arts
IAD Press t/u Institute for Aboriginal Development (Aboriginal Corporation) NT $83,534
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Arts
ILBIJERRI Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Theatre Co-op VIC $300,000 Theatre / Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Arts
Kimberley Aboriginal Law and Culture Centre Aboriginal Corporation WA $140,000 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Arts
Magabala Books Aboriginal Corporation WA $275,715 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Arts
Marrugeku Inc WA $300,000 Dance / Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Arts
Moogahlin Performing Arts Inc NSW $200,000 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Arts
Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory Board NT $150,000 Visual Arts
Ngaanyatjarra Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara Women's Council NT $150,000 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Arts
Tandanya National Aboriginal Cultural Institute Inc. SA $300,000 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Arts
Umi Arts Ltd QLD $225,000 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Arts
Warburton Youth Arts Centre WA $125,000 Community Arts and Cultural Development / Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Arts
Yirra Yaakin Aboriginal Corporation WA $300,000 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Arts