Ian Burn et al. is a long research query focusing on the legacy of Ian Burn, and the work of his network of peers. A series of public events, publications and writing follows:
Art & Working Life, panel discussion
Art & Working Life, panel discussion
Tuesday 18 September 2018, 6.00—7.00pm
Ian Potter Museum of Art, University of Melbourne
Presented by 1856
with the Ian Potter Museum of Art, University of Melbourne
as a part of the exhibition State of the Union
curated by Jacqueline Doughty
Art & Working Life was a joint funding initiative between the Australia Council for the Arts and the Australian Council of Trade Unions. During its tenure it funded and promoted the creation of cultural activities by artists, art workers, and unions in and out of the workplace. As Ian Burn and Kathy Muir wrote in 1992, the program aimed to ‘encourage art practice and policy, informed by the concerns and issues affecting workers own lives and acknowledges working class cultural traditions and the multicultural nature of those traditions.’ In operation until the early 1990s, it has an ambivalent legacy: some criticised it for catering too much to the desire of artists and the ‘values of the artworld’, while others saw it as an instrumentalisation of art for political aims.
This panel discussion focuses on the historical legacy and contemporary relevance of the Art & Working Life program. The import of the program, for both the institutions of artworld and the labour movement of today, will be discussed with some of its key stakeholders. An audio recording of the event will be available in the future.
Deborah Mills, Art & Working Life; Senior Project Officer, Community Arts Board (1980-8); Director of Community Cultural Development Board (1987-93); Australia Council
Geoff Hogg, Contributing Artist to Art & Working Life
Tom Nicholson, Artist
Convenor
Nicholas Tammens, Curator of 1856
The State of the Union panel series is supported by the City of Melbourne Arts Grants Program.