This paper examines trends in the understanding of children as visitors to art and natural histor... more This paper examines trends in the understanding of children as visitors to art and natural history museums. It begins by examining research into the qualities of engagement by museum visitors generally. It then addresses the specific challenges posed by children as visitors, and the responses developed by museums to enhance their engagement. Three strategies are identified: social/family-centred interactivity, immersive experiences and engagement through interpretive dialogue. The three examples of programs of children’s engagement examined in this paper represent a major departure from such models towards a profoundly social form of interaction. The paper argues that these strategies are museums’ responses to shifts in pedagogical theory, and have been developed to increase the engagement of the child-visitor with exhibitions. Such strategies represent a genuine engagement between adults (both museum staff and parents) and children, and an opportunity for children to de...
Arts impact evaluation is the subject of widespread criticism, ranging from a detailed critique o... more Arts impact evaluation is the subject of widespread criticism, ranging from a detailed critique of methodology to a wholesale rejection of the very purpose of the endeavour. In particular, it is often identified that audience evaluations are almost always positive. Yet whatever the critique, arts impact evaluation is becoming more and not less prevalent as a condition of public and philanthropic funding. This article explores both the methodological and conceptual problems that contribute to the perceived positive character of social impact research, in two parts: (1) an investigation of the critical literature on audience evaluation, particularly in relation to the argument that evaluation is inevitably positive and as such leads to a confusion between the goals of evaluation and arts advocacy; (2) a reflection on our practices as audience researchers in the performing arts and the practical factors that contribute to the dominance of the positive in audience evaluation.
2016-2017 the Deakin research team were commissioned by Arts Centre Melbourne (ACM), on behalf of... more 2016-2017 the Deakin research team were commissioned by Arts Centre Melbourne (ACM), on behalf of a consortium of 14 major Victorian cultural organisations, to evaluate the impact of a new festival - the inaugural Asia Pacific Triennial of Performing Arts (Asia TOPA) which was a major strategic initiative led by ACM. The program was an ambitious one requiring the development of new programming, collaboration and stakeholder engagement. The resulting report interrogates the benefits to all participants, while identifying the extent to which Asia TOPA contributed to the development of the cultural sector.
In their paper on Excellence and access: Indigenous performing arts the problem that Hilary Glo... more In their paper on Excellence and access: Indigenous performing arts the problem that Hilary Glow and Katya Johanson describe is discursive, one that also has a discursive solution. An alternative can come from thinking through the process by which value is created, ...
In February 2008, Prime Minister Kevin Rudd apologised to the Stolen Generations on behalf of the... more In February 2008, Prime Minister Kevin Rudd apologised to the Stolen Generations on behalf of the Australian people. Now what? In this Platform Paper, mid-career Indigenous performing artists think about their post-apology future. Indigenous theatre blossomed in the 1990s ...
This paper brings together critiques of contemporary Australian cultural policy from three source... more This paper brings together critiques of contemporary Australian cultural policy from three sources: academic research, arts leaders and public intellectuals. It discusses the discursive shift in cultural policy towards an instrumentalist framework, and reviews academic ...
Since 11 September 2001, Australia's race relations have been an issue of significant cultur... more Since 11 September 2001, Australia's race relations have been an issue of significant cultural concern, particularly relations between Anglo-Celtic and Middle-Eastern Australians. Riots on Cronulla Beach, Sydney, in December 2005 heightened this concern. This paper looks at ...
Precarious employment and unpaid labour are common features of the cultural and creative industri... more Precarious employment and unpaid labour are common features of the cultural and creative industries. While existing literature highlights the benefit of professional development in building careers...
Claire Bishop argued that the ethical lens applied to socially engaged arts practice encourages ‘... more Claire Bishop argued that the ethical lens applied to socially engaged arts practice encourages ‘authorial renunciation’ in favour of collaboration and limits the opportunity to expose such practice to critical reception. This article responds to Bishop’s implicit call to envision an artist-centred framework for participatory arts by identifying the motivations and beneficial discoveries that artists make when they seek out the creative involvement of others. Based on interviews with Australian performing artists who have established socially engaged practices, the article aims to bring about a form of ‘authorial reinstatement’ into the value system around participatory arts practice. It identifies a range of motivations for artists who establish socially engaged or participatory practice, from self-developmental to altruistic; and from arts-focused to community- and society-focused. The article argues that using these motivations to inform indicators of achievement for participator...
This paper examines trends in the understanding of children as visitors to art and natural histor... more This paper examines trends in the understanding of children as visitors to art and natural history museums. It begins by examining research into the qualities of engagement by museum visitors generally. It then addresses the specific challenges posed by children as visitors, and the responses developed by museums to enhance their engagement. Three strategies are identified: social/family-centred interactivity, immersive experiences and engagement through interpretive dialogue. The three examples of programs of children’s engagement examined in this paper represent a major departure from such models towards a profoundly social form of interaction. The paper argues that these strategies are museums’ responses to shifts in pedagogical theory, and have been developed to increase the engagement of the child-visitor with exhibitions. Such strategies represent a genuine engagement between adults (both museum staff and parents) and children, and an opportunity for children to de...
Arts impact evaluation is the subject of widespread criticism, ranging from a detailed critique o... more Arts impact evaluation is the subject of widespread criticism, ranging from a detailed critique of methodology to a wholesale rejection of the very purpose of the endeavour. In particular, it is often identified that audience evaluations are almost always positive. Yet whatever the critique, arts impact evaluation is becoming more and not less prevalent as a condition of public and philanthropic funding. This article explores both the methodological and conceptual problems that contribute to the perceived positive character of social impact research, in two parts: (1) an investigation of the critical literature on audience evaluation, particularly in relation to the argument that evaluation is inevitably positive and as such leads to a confusion between the goals of evaluation and arts advocacy; (2) a reflection on our practices as audience researchers in the performing arts and the practical factors that contribute to the dominance of the positive in audience evaluation.
2016-2017 the Deakin research team were commissioned by Arts Centre Melbourne (ACM), on behalf of... more 2016-2017 the Deakin research team were commissioned by Arts Centre Melbourne (ACM), on behalf of a consortium of 14 major Victorian cultural organisations, to evaluate the impact of a new festival - the inaugural Asia Pacific Triennial of Performing Arts (Asia TOPA) which was a major strategic initiative led by ACM. The program was an ambitious one requiring the development of new programming, collaboration and stakeholder engagement. The resulting report interrogates the benefits to all participants, while identifying the extent to which Asia TOPA contributed to the development of the cultural sector.
In their paper on Excellence and access: Indigenous performing arts the problem that Hilary Glo... more In their paper on Excellence and access: Indigenous performing arts the problem that Hilary Glow and Katya Johanson describe is discursive, one that also has a discursive solution. An alternative can come from thinking through the process by which value is created, ...
In February 2008, Prime Minister Kevin Rudd apologised to the Stolen Generations on behalf of the... more In February 2008, Prime Minister Kevin Rudd apologised to the Stolen Generations on behalf of the Australian people. Now what? In this Platform Paper, mid-career Indigenous performing artists think about their post-apology future. Indigenous theatre blossomed in the 1990s ...
This paper brings together critiques of contemporary Australian cultural policy from three source... more This paper brings together critiques of contemporary Australian cultural policy from three sources: academic research, arts leaders and public intellectuals. It discusses the discursive shift in cultural policy towards an instrumentalist framework, and reviews academic ...
Since 11 September 2001, Australia's race relations have been an issue of significant cultur... more Since 11 September 2001, Australia's race relations have been an issue of significant cultural concern, particularly relations between Anglo-Celtic and Middle-Eastern Australians. Riots on Cronulla Beach, Sydney, in December 2005 heightened this concern. This paper looks at ...
Precarious employment and unpaid labour are common features of the cultural and creative industri... more Precarious employment and unpaid labour are common features of the cultural and creative industries. While existing literature highlights the benefit of professional development in building careers...
Claire Bishop argued that the ethical lens applied to socially engaged arts practice encourages ‘... more Claire Bishop argued that the ethical lens applied to socially engaged arts practice encourages ‘authorial renunciation’ in favour of collaboration and limits the opportunity to expose such practice to critical reception. This article responds to Bishop’s implicit call to envision an artist-centred framework for participatory arts by identifying the motivations and beneficial discoveries that artists make when they seek out the creative involvement of others. Based on interviews with Australian performing artists who have established socially engaged practices, the article aims to bring about a form of ‘authorial reinstatement’ into the value system around participatory arts practice. It identifies a range of motivations for artists who establish socially engaged or participatory practice, from self-developmental to altruistic; and from arts-focused to community- and society-focused. The article argues that using these motivations to inform indicators of achievement for participator...
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