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Inaugural First Nations Board for the arts
Inaugural First Nations Board for the arts
The Albanese Labor Government is continuing to implement ground-breaking measures set out in Revive, with the appointment of 10 members to the new First Nations Board to support and promote Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander arts practice.
It follows the passage of legislation earlier this year to establish First Nations Arts as a new part of Creative Australia, the Government’s principal arts investment and advisory body.
The Board will oversee the work of First Nations Arts within Creative Australia to support and promote Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander arts, enhance sustainable career pathways for First Nations people in the arts and increase opportunities to grow First Nations audiences. The First Nations Board will also help guide the creation of significant First Nations works and increase their scale and reach.
First Nations Arts will receive funding over the next four years from 2024-25.
The 10 members of the Board, including 2 Co-chairs, deliver broad representation across theatre, visual arts, television, film, dance and governance.
The appointees for the visual arts are:
Philip Watkins (Co-chair) - part of large extended Arrernte and Larrakia families from Alice Springs (Mparntwe). He is currently Chief Executive Director of Desart Incorporated.
Jeanette James (Member) - a practicing Tasmanian Aboriginal artist and traditional shell necklace stringer whose work is deeply rooted in her Palawa cultural heritage.
Dennis Stokes (Member) - belongs to the Wardamann, Luritja, and Warramunga peoples of the Northern Territory and the Wagadagam people of the Torres Strait. He is Chief Executive Officer of the Cairns Indigenous Art Fair.
Jared Thomas (Member) - a Nukunu person of the Southern Flinders Ranges, he is Research Fellow, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Material Culture and Art at the South Australian Museum.
The new appointments will come into effect on 9 September 2024 and are each for a term of four years.
Read more here: https://minister.infrastructure.gov.au/burke/media-release/inaugural-first-nations-board-arts
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