JCU researchers battle to save arts in the North
James Cook University (JCU) has launched a new initiative aimed at ensuring arts and culture in the North no longer take a back seat in government funding and policies.
The recently initiated LabNorth project is building networks across Darwin, Townsville and Cairns and using policy research plus townhall focus groups to establish the true value of arts and culture in northern Australia.
JCU lead researcher Associate Professor Lisa Law said this will create a tri-city network that voices the under-recognised role of arts in supporting northern Australian communities.
“Art is essential to how communities connect, how people relate to place, and how we nurture wellbeing.
“But federal development policy for Northern Australia – shaped from Canberra – continues to see the region primarily as a food bowl or a fortress.
“It’s silent on the role of arts and culture in sustaining the North’s cultural vitality and economic resilience,” she continued.
The LabNorth project brings together major stakeholders in festivals, museums, theatre and visual arts, as well as cultural leaders and policymakers across the three cities via forums and workshops, with the aim of strengthening the visibility of culture and the arts in the North within state and federal policies.
“The arts really feel under attack right now,” explained JCU co-lead researcher Associate Professor Victoria Kuttainen.
“Since 2021, Australia has lost 40 creative arts programs in our 37 universities, and we're seeing humanities programs being cut as well.”
The researchers warn that if arts and culture continue to fall through the cracks in the North, the impact won’t just be felt by our economy but also through our youth.
“With a cultural deficit we lose that next generation,” said Assoc. Prof. Kuttainen.
“They go to the larger southern cities because that's where art is happening, but then they get misrecognised because they aren't like those people who grew up in those places. Their stories aren't nurtured.”
“And we’re really aware that translates to a huge impact on brain drain, on the next generation of artists, but also on the people's sense of liveability – when a community feels like it’s living in a cultural desert, without the ability to tell its own stories, or relying only on culture imported from elsewhere. We don’t want that to happen.”
“We have developed a way that we can begin to articulate the needs of arts and culture in the North in a more proactive way to policy and for community,” she continued.
The project’s most recent public forum in September saw 140 registrations with representatives from universities, TAFE, local and state government, and a range of art industries, including galleries, museums and community arts. The forum highlighted concerns about the precarious state of arts funding and support in local
governments, particularly Townsville.
“We need to recast and elevate arts and culture as critical infrastructure in the North, like we would for roads or schools or hospitals,” said Assoc. Prof. Lisa Law.
“This will give arts and culture more visibility in the public domain, from local through to state and federal government policy.”
The next LabNorth Workshop, ‘Shaping Northern Australia’s Cultural Future’, will be held at JCU’s Bada-jali campus in the Cairns CBD on October 13-14 and will focus on exploring pathways for advocacy and collaboration. For more information, please contact Assoc. Prof. Lisa Law (lisa.law@jcu.edu.au).