New British & Australian diversity program set to create new arts leaders

A new knowledge exchange program set up by the British Council and Diversity Arts Australia (DARTS) will see six arts professionals travel to each other’s countries.

The six will be from culturally diverse and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander backgrounds.

The Intersect program enables curators, producers, programmers, publishers and artistic directors to connect, peer mentor and collaborate with international colleagues.

Intersect has three key components:

• Exchange of ideas and knowledge and a sharing of experiences and best practice with their peers.
• A digital online resource with research and case studies made publicly available.
• A touring platform that supports British artists from minority ethnic backgrounds touring their work in Australia.

The British Council and DARTS are working with Creative Victoria, the University of Western Sydney and the Institute of Creative and Cultural Entrepreneurship, Goldsmiths and University of London.

The first year of the program will focus on those from the performing arts, visual arts, literature and screen sectors.

Intersect attempts to balance out that Australia’s arts sector still lags behind cultural diversity, in the same way that Britain’s arts sector does not mirror that multi-cultural society’s make-up.

The most recent Census shows that almost half of Australia’s population are first or second-generation migrants.

But the Australia Council for the Arts’ 2017 Making Art Work report notes that artists from a non-English speaking background account for only 10% of the arts workforce compared to 18% within the general workforce.

Applications for the program close on July 2. More information can be found here. 

The visit by the British arts workers takes place between September 10 and 15.

The visit to Britain is set for early 2019.