Question your cultural context

Decolonising the written word

The ways in which the publishing industry is grappling with the project of decolonisation.

'As an editor, a relatively new part of my brief is to be on the alert for colonial exceptionalism. What has surprised me is the amount of material I would have waved through a few years ago.'

Aesthetic Perspectives: Attributes of Excellence in Arts for Change

Aesthetic taste is highly influenced by cultural background. According to this framework, ‘the terms “aesthetics” and “aesthetic excellence” are often used to privilege white Eurocentric standards of beauty'. It offers 11 attributes which may be useful in assessing art from different cultures.

Prejudice Reduction: What Works? A Review and Assessment of Research and Practice

A review of 985 studies on prejudice-reduction strategies, such as 'diversity training', 'antibias' or 'cultural competence' interventions, which found that there is no evidence about whether or not they work.

'We conclude that the causal effects of many widespread prejudice-reduction interventions, such as workplace diversity training and media campaigns, remain unknown.'

No diversity: Australian musical theatre award accused of overlooking non-white artists

Article on the criticism received by the Rob Guest Endowment due to the lack of diversity of its 2020 semifinalist list. The $50,000 award is Australia's most prestigious music theatre award and was criticised for announcing what appeared to be a completely white 30-person shortlist.

Some of the semifinalists issued a statement saying: “The 30 of us stand with artists and performers who are people of colour. We are uniting to listen, learn and actively be part of the solution.”

Check Our Biases to Wreck Our Biases

Second in a New York Times series on implicit bias, looking at how implicit bias works in selection situations and how some people are auditing their own implicit biases.

Why I’m Asking White Critics Not to Review My Show

Indigenous theatre-maker Yolanda Bonell of Tkarón:to (Toronto, Canada) discusses the white gaze in critical reviews.

'The lack of IBPOC voices in the media—at a time when arts’ coverage is shrinking—means white critics are often the gatekeepers of success....as reviewers, I think there’s a responsibility in acknowledging that you may not understand certain cultural aspects of how the storyteller is choosing to tell that story.'

Implicit Bias Module Series

Online course aimed at educators to understand and mitigate against unconscious bias.

The Dominance of the White Male Critic

Review of the reviewers, and the dangers of a national art debate that remains 'largely segregated'. It begins with a look at the 2019 Whitney Biennal in the US.

'Several white reviewers faintly praised the show but argued that it wasn’t “radical” enough. In response, Simone Leigh, an artist featured in the Biennial, suggested that reviewers could not detect radicalism in her work because they were unfamiliar with the art, artists and themes she draws from, a criticism others echoed.'

Living Music Report

Survey of programming in Australian Major Performing Arts Organisations in 2019, measuring the diversity of the repertoire of Australia's largest orchestras.

Out of the 2006 works performed across 2019:

'3% were written by female composers
9% were written by Australian composers
19% were written by living composers
0.45% were written by CALD Australian composers
0.05% were written by First Nations composers'

Peanut Butter, Jelly and Racism

The first in a series of short films from the New York Times looking into implicit bias (aka unconscious bias). It looks at the difference between racism and implicit bias and how associations are unconsciously made when we are are exposed to racial stereotypes through media, education and art.

Snacks and Punishment

Part of a New York Times series looking at implicit bias (aka unconscious bias) which presents research evidence that we can successfully correct for our unconscious biases, if we know about them.

The Exhibitionist

Art tours of UK galleries and museums that position works in the context of colonialism, imperialism and racism.

'we unravel the role colonialism played in shaping and funding a major national collection, looking at the broader material history of celebrated works: where the money comes from, the ways they’ve been displayed, and the ideological aesthetics at work. The history of British art is also the history of empire and genocide, written by collectors who traded in landscapes and lives.'

Creating our Future - 2019 National Arts Participation Survey

Results from the 2019 (pre-COVID) survey of Australians attitudes to the arts. The 2019 survey was translated into community languages for the first time: Arabic, Dinka, Mandarin, Spanish, Urdu and Vietnamese.

The research found that the targeted CALD respondents were more likely to attend arts events than Australians overall, and 42% would like to attend more arts than they currently do. CALD respondents are also nearly three times more likely to give to the arts than non-CALD respondents.

Musicians on How to Bring Racial Equity to Auditions

Discussion on blind auditions in orchestras, which have improved gender equity, but have not been effective in improving racial equity. In this article, conductors, artists and other experts discuss other approaches to equity.

'If a person of color advances to this final round, I would think that one would hopefully in this day and age say that these are players of equal capabilities and maybe it should fall to someone who more represents what society is looking for.' Leonard Slatkin

Identity-Conscious Casting

Moving Beyond Color-Blind and Color-Conscious Casting

Director Lavina Jadhwani and casting director Victor Vazquez contemplate how identity and inauthenticity manifest on stage, and the limits of 'colour-blind casting'.

“Here are the givens of the text and here are the givens of how the artists working on it identify. Both of those things have value in the space.”

“Color-blind” says to me: the truths of the text matter and everything else doesn’t matter."

The problem with 'cripping up' and why casting disabled actors matters

Article examining 'cripping up': when able-bodied actors portray people with disability, such as Daniel Day-Lewis' role in 1990's 'My Left Foot'.

'what must it have been like to be one of those child actors on the set of My Left Foot? To not only watch a man act as though he too had cerebral palsy on screen, but to see him continue the charade once filming stopped.

How would they have felt, then, to later see him walking on stage to accept an award for how well he imitated them?'

An open letter to reviewers, critics and editors

'Hello, lovely to meet you. I’m Cessalee: a Black woman, DEI (diversity, equity, and inclusion) consultant, director and performer, arts audience member, and advocate for a better industry – can we talk?'

'Comparing ... a play about a specific Asian community to another play ... from an entirely other Asian country tells me you’re not talking about the quality, talent or skill level ... you’re talking about the category you’ve created called ‘plays about Asian things I don’t understand'.'

Why is this racist, sexist show getting an encore?

Critical review of the Opera Australia production of Miss Saigon.

'Today, most people in Vietnam are under 35 and don’t remember the war. For many in the West, Vietnam equals the Vietnam War. The plot of this musical perpetuates many stereotypes: America is the dreamland and Asian women are sexualised objects that need rescuing.'