Cultural Perspectives and DiverseWerks are pleased to share with you Connection Australians: The Results of the National Arts Participation Survey. The survey is the third in a series delivered by the Australia Council, following previous editions in 2009 and 2013 and includes commentary by our Managing Director, Pino Migliorino AM.
The survey measured Australians’ engagement with the arts in 2016 – attending arts events, exhibitions, and festivals; reading; listening to music; sharing and connecting with the arts online; and creating art themselves.
The arts encompass theatre, dance, visual arts and craft, music, literature, First Nations and cross-art form work.
The significance of this survey is that it has been broadened to research engagement with a person’s own cultural background through the arts. As the only National survey of its kind, we applaud the Australia Council for their recognition of arts and culture for Australia’s diverse communities.
In 2016, 13 million Australians (64% of the population) said that the arts have a ‘big’ or ‘very big’ impact on their understanding of other people and cultures. Three quarters (75%), or 15 million, agreed that the arts in Australia reflect the diversity of cultures present in Australia – an increase from 64% in 2013.
Mr Migliorino recognises that arts participation is not static and immutable in CALD communities. “Arts participation as a facet of own-culture connection is a breakthrough question in the 2016 participation survey. The CALD community behaviour demonstrates significant cross-cultural arts participation and this can only be a positive indicator for both social cohesion and intercultural empathy”, he said.