(Links Removed) 

NATIONAL STUFF

National Cultural Policy for Australia The consultation towards the development of a National Cultural Policy for Australia closed on Monday, 15th February. TNV submitted a response, calling for a vibrant and financially secure small to medium performing arts sector. It is number 90 on the list of 110 submissions, or you can access it from our website (link removed).
Sadly – the list of submissions on the National Cultural Policy site are numbered only, so it is hard to look at individual submissions. Most of the arts industry submissions are the later ones, so if you do browse – start from the end and work back!

Towards an Australian Theatre Forum 2011 TNV is presenting a forum at the Australian Performing Arts Market in Adelaide on Tuesday 23 February – Towards an Australian Theatre Forum 2011. A panel of five will touch on outcomes from the 2009 Forum, and then a mini-workshop will develop some content ideas for the 2011 ATF.

Creative Industries Innovation Centre – New Opportunity “Workshops, Industry Intelligence & Networking” Grant – up to $50,000. Closes 12 March 2010. Through the new federal Enterprise Connect Initiative, the creative industries are supported by a range of free services, including business reviews, advisory services etc. There is a new grant opportunity now being offered (second round) for organisations to run professional development (workshops, seminars, demonstration projects, etc) to their particular sector. Up to $50,000 is available. The criteria to be addressed and other round information is available on the Enterprise Connect website. The next information sessions are in Burnie (Tasmania) on 22 February and then Melbourne (24 Feb), Canberra (25 Feb) and Sydney (26 Feb).

Young People and the Arts Australia invites applications to participate in the Incubator Program. Closes Friday 12 March. YPAA has a new initiative that provides dedicated support for emerging and established arts organisations that focus on creating work for and with children and young people. It is a formal relationship between YPAA and Australian arts organisations that are currently undergoing a period of growth or transition. The partnership allows YPAA to assist individuals within chosen organisations to develop and extend skills that will aid them in the preparation and implementation in a range of areas.

Artists UpRiver – Residency opportunity for performing artists in the Riverland, South Australia. A partnership between Riverland Youth Theatre and the Australian Landscape Trust is set to provide visiting artists access to accommodation at Calperum Station as part of the RYT UpRiver program. The program will provide groups of young, emerging, and experienced independent groups of artists opportunities to create new performance based works – inspired by successful programs such as the HotHouse Theatre A Month in the Country program. Calperum Station is a 250,000 hectare former leasehold sheep property with an expanse of mallee country and frontage on the River Murray and is managed by the Australian Landscape Trust.

VICTORIAN STUFF

New Creative Heads for Melbourne Workers Theatre and Chamber Made Opera Melbourne Workers Theatre has appointed Gorkem Acaroglu as creative producer, to replace Maude Davey who has been artistic director of the company for the past two years. The company was formed in 1987 to broaden the cultural diversity of Australian theatre but has been limited recently by funding restrictions after winning the Sidney Myer Performing Arts Award in 2005.

The Board of Chamber Made Opera is pleased to announce the appointment of composer David Young to the position of Artistic Director of the company. “I have followed Chamber Made Opera almost since its inception, and like many artists and companies, was strongly influenced by the stream of extraordinary, groundbreaking chamber operas and music theatre works that make up its oeuvre” said David Young.

Searchlight Festival – a festival of explosively diverse and eclectic performance at fortyfivedownstairs – on now! until 21st February, Melbourne. Tashmadada and fortyfivedownstairs present the Searchlight Festival which showcases the best of our dynamic independent performance works – works by emerging and established artists who are challenging and pushing the boundaries in their own particular artistic form. A highlight of the festival will be Meant to be Spoken – On Sunday 21st Feb, Robert Reid hosts a Sunday afternoon champagne soiree with some of the most exciting Australian Playwriting Talent, to celebrate the spoken word. Selected works written and read by Adam Cass, Patricia Cornelius, David Mence, Declan Green, Tee O Neill, Hannie Rayson and Amelia Roper. 5.30pm – 7pm. ticket price: $20.

ONLINE APPLICATIONS now open for Showcase Victoria, which takes place on 15 & 16 May at the Malthouse Theatre. Applications Due 12 March. Showcase Victoria, co-produced by VAPAC and RAV, is the premier annual promotional event for producers and presenters involved in touring performing arts throughout Victoria. Applications to Showcase Victoria this year will be submitted online via the Cyberpaddock website. http://cyberpaddock.com.au/ Note that even if you do not wish to apply for Showcase Victoria, you might like to register your work on Cyberpaddock to give your work a strong online presence.

Applications are now open for the $30,000 R.E. Ross Trust Playwrights’ Script Development Awards 2010. Closing date: March 26 The Awards support the development of plays as works-in-progress. The Awards, administered by the State Library of Victoria, are open to Victorian based playwrights. Applicants are eligible to apply for a minimum of $3,000 and maximum of $10,000. The prize money may be used to fund workshops or support further work with a director, dramaturge, script editor and/or actors. The plays should not have been previously produced. Information session March 2, 6.30-7.30pm, State Library of Victoria, La Trobe St (entry 3), Melbourne. Closing date: March 26, 5pm.

A new peak body for Live Music in Victoria – The Age, February 18, 2010, by Patrick Donovan The Brumby government has moved to boost its flagging relationship with the music industry, providing $250,000 for a new independent body, Music Victoria, to represent the industry’s interests.

INTERNATIONAL STUFF

We wish we had … …an Annual Arts Journalism Institute for Theatre.

National Endowment for the Arts, USA. The USC Annenberg School for Communication & Journalism and the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) announced today that applications are now being accepted for the sixth annual Arts Journalism Institute in Theater and Musical Theater. The institute, which will take place May 17-27, 2010, is an 11-day intensive workshop in theater and musical theater for critics, reporters, editors, and broadcast and online producers from all 50 states and Puerto Rico. “It is often in theater that we experience humanity’s deepest concerns,” said Geneva Overholser, director of USC Annenberg’s School of Journalism. “Consequently, theater offers journalists a way of learning about what matters and of seeing how human beings discover and handle conflict. Good theater coverage that pays attention to artists, past and present and from every culture is the obligation of a democratic society.” Institute applications are due March 11, 2010.

International Network for Contemporary Performing Arts IETM is a membership organisation which exists to stimulate the quality, development and contexts of contemporary performing arts in a global environment, by initiating and facilitating professional networking and communication, the dynamic exchange of information, know-how transfer and presentations of examples of good practice. You can subscribe to the newsletter IETM general newsletter, which is sent every 2 months to anyone who is in interested in the activities of IETM.