A new government body could help Indigenous artists maintain control of their work, Arts Minister Tony Burke has flagged.
The concept would mean Indigenous artists could retain authority and autonomy in their work, Mr Burke said, even when dealing with large established arts institutions.
The organisation could be run autonomously from inside the Australia Council, he said in a speech at the Purrumpa: First Nations Arts and Cultural Gathering in Adelaide on Monday.
For example, Aboriginal playwrights could be funded to staff their productions with First Nations crew who they could bring with them to established theatre companies, he said.
“How do we establish a mechanism that allows there to be financial power for First Nations artists, when dealing with non-First Nations companies, so that the power of creator isn’t lost by the time it reaches the audience?” Mr Burke said.
The idea comes after a federal budget in which the government funded some election promises, including $80 million for a National Aboriginal Art Gallery in Alice Springs and $50m for an Aboriginal Cultural Centre in Perth.
But dollars were not forthcoming for a broader arts sector hit hard during the pandemic, with the forward estimates showing the federal government’s arts and cultural funding is set to decline from $859m in 2022/23 to $783m in 2025/26.
Mr Burke told the crowd he wanted to work on establishing the right structures around the government’s national cultural policy due in December, in the hope of more funding in future.
“There could not be a worse time than at the moment for me to get money,” he said.
He also flagged establishing more training for Indigenous arts staff, warning that new First Nations institutions may end up being led by non-Indigenous people if there was not enough planning to staff them.
“There’s lots of these centres being established, but we don’t at the moment have a pipeline of people being trained to be the curators,” Mr Burke said.
The Purrumpa gathering marks 50 years since the Australia Council began funding Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander arts and culture, and the event has attracted more than 200 Indigenous artists and cultural leaders.
Purrumpa runs until November 4.
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