Here is a little news article I wrote for ArtsHub that I reckon might be of great interest to all you theatre and arts punters out there.
I know that the last forum I recommended was totally underwhelming, but maybe, just maybe this might be worthwhile.
"What will Sydney’s creative future look like in 2030? That is the question to be asked at the first City Talk presented this year at the Sydney Town Hall on 24 July.
Presented by the City of Sydney and the Sydney Morning Herald, the talk will be compered by 702 ABC Radio Sydney Breakfast host Adam Spencer who will be in discussion with Sydney Festival Director and Chief Executive Fergus Linehan, Director of the Museum of Contemporary Art, Elizabeth Ann Macgregor and Company B Artistic Director, Neil Armfield.
'Sydney is the cultural capital of Australia,' Lord Mayor Clover Moore MP said, 'and obviously this is a position we would like to keep up to 2030 and beyond.'
This panel discussion with three of the most influential cultural figures of Sydney will look at the future of the city’s creative and cultural life as part of the City of Sydney's Sustainable Futures 2030 project. The outcomes of the public discussion will be then used by the City to further develop a vision for the future.
The Lord Mayor is encouraging public involvement saying, 'this is your opportunity to be part of the discussion about our city's future. Where do we want to be creatively in 2030?' Ms Moore said.
The City of Sydney prides itself on supporting a diverse range of major cultural events including the Sydney Festival, Sydney Film Festival, Art & About, Sydney Writers’ Festival as well as smaller community events.
It has centred much of its support around the City of Villages concept which seeks to create cultural hubs within many of the different sectors of the city. In November last year it announced the Live Lanes Program to ‘breath new life into CBD laneways with a range of creative initiatives to encourage more activity’.
The first City Talk is a free event and will be held on Tuesday 24 July at 8pm at the Sydney Town Hall from 6.30pm.
For more information, CLICK HERE."
6 comments:
There'll be a few harrumphs in Melbourne about that "cultural capital" business! We have all those festivals too, only they have "Melbourne" in front of them - and it's fair to say that MIAF is looking hot hot hot. Not that I'm into this Sydney/Melbourne rivalry stuff...we don't have that harbour, for sure. But, hey, where did they steal the idea of "laneways" from? Not Melbourne, surely?
(Sorry Nicholas, couldn't help it. But I participated in a "vision" event for Ozco once, and thought it was a load of tosh...always eager to be proved wrong, though.)
I know... that's exactly why I put it in the copy! It was just too good to resist.
Melb/Syd rivalry? I don't hear much about it these days, but when I did, it seemed to be mostly coming from Sydney. Us Melbournians generally don't give a ratsarse whether Sydney considers itself superior in any respect whatsoever. But maybe I'm projecting...
"Cultural capital"? Yeah, right! Would the last person (with one iota of creative or artistic intelligence) to leave the increasingly violent and dangerous, exploitative and creatively starved and disillusioned City of Sydney kindly turn out the lights?
This is the most extraordinary load of bullshit I've read in years! And check out the typos on their website!
I can think of no more depressing indicator of the total disregard for the arts in the greater Sydney consciousness than the fact that the flagship boadsheet, the Sydney Morning Herald cannot sustain even one blog that is arts related. I had a moment of hope when I saw one entitled "Performer of the Week," thinking they would single out a dancer, actor or musician each week who had proven to be outstanding. But no, it is yet another sports blog, bringing their total to ten. Says it all, I think.
St G, that reminds me of an abrupt change of direction that other Fairfax flagship broadsheet took a few years ago. I refer of course to the Melbourne Age, and its resignation to populism by attempting to compete with the sports-focus of the (Melbourne) Herald Sun. I believe it is an Age policy now to have at least one sports story on the front page every day without fail.
When I was a kid, my parents (neither of which were intellectuals in any sense of the word) used to say they wouldn't wipe their bum with the Herald or the Sun (they were two papers then). Since then, I've heard this quite often. Why a respectable broadsheet would want to emulate these papers is beyond me and is another reason why, as I think I mentioned previously, I've cancelled my subscription to The Age.
And I mean no disrespect to the various readers of this site who may contribute to either paper, some of whom I know and hold in high esteem. I'm talking about the management of the papers, not the writers specifically.
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