creative 20/20 summit? maybe 10/20….good work keep going..

well I feel I need to blog this. after the 20 20 summit in canberra with mr rudd.
here is a link to “Towards a creative Australia: the future of the arts, film and design” and the background briefing paper.

It is good to know that: “We value our artists, film-makers, designers, authors, playwrights and performers because they entertain us, challenge us and inspire us.” 

Here is the full statement:

“Creativity is increasingly recognised and celebrated for its contribution to cultural development, economic growth and social harmony; but it’s also intrinsically good. We value our artists, film-makers, designers, authors, playwrights and performers because they entertain us, challenge us and inspire us.

Australian cultural endeavour feeds the roots of our creativity; it helps preserve and protect the storehouses of the nation’s memory; it supports and sustains our disadvantaged and marginalised communities; and it shapes and defines our shared national identity.

Australian culture, in all its various forms and guises, is interwoven with the philosophy and the spirit of our nation, it is at the heart of who we are and is integral to the way we see ourselves and how others see us. Through film, writing and performance we try to define our unique experience, tell our own stories in our own voices and make our mark on the world.

The remarkable growth of the commercial Indigenous arts sector is indicative of the powerful transformative force of culture and the arts – growth which is rooted in tradition, land and language but which looks to the future. For many remote communities the development of a cultural enterprise has resulted in better health, educational and social outcomes.

Creativity will play a critical role in building and shaping Australia’s economy. Our artists and designers are amongst the best in the world and have the capacity to lead the charge into the new, technology-rich emerging industries. A future Australian economy will be driven by our ideas and our creativity, by smart design and canny management of our intellectual property.

Creative activity is also a fundamental part of our individual education. The arts can be provocative and subversive, challenging us to question the status quo. Through creative endeavours we learn to accept ambiguity, to move forward after failure, to think beyond preconceived boundaries and to communicate our emotions.”

Even though Kev’s intro speech made reference to “the internet” repeatedly, in the arts section there is no reference, explicit or otherwise to the internet, new media or digital media. film gets a guernsey as art but not digital media…tricky to nominate some forms/practice but not others, although it is pitched at a popularist audience it has some pretty explicit positions on the function of art, it would be good to have extended that into the practices of art as well… I feel like i am apologising for the omission, but what i really wanted to say is that it does nothing to allay my feeling that it is just more of the same rhetoric.