Last week, the CAOA network met in Adelaide for the first meeting of 2020, coinciding with the opening of the Adelaide Biennial titled Monster Theatres at the Art Gallery of South Australia, the Adelaide International at Samstag Museum of Art and Mexico-born, Berlin-based artist Mariana Castillo Deball’s Replaying Life’s Tape at ACE Open.
CAOA were pleased to be joined by independent consultant Jacquie Riddell who facilitated a full-day workshop with the CAOA network to lay the groundwork for an updated 21st Century CAO’s document that outlines key priorities and recommendations for the network over the next 3-5 years. Key areas of focus are artistic, funding, operational, First Nations, Community Building/Exchange, Cultural and Linguistic Diversity, International, Impact and Leadership.
We welcomed new CAOA members, Claire Richardson, Executive Director, Australian Centre for Contemporary Art; Bridie Moran, Acting Director, 4A Centre for Contemporary Asian Art; Andy Butler, Curator, West Space. We were also delighted to invite Kimba Thompson, Director, Blak Dot Gallery in Melbourne to join the CAOA network as the 16th organisation and we look forward to working with them over the next critical stage of CAOA planning.
– Louise Dunn, Executive Director & Patrice Sharkey, Artistic Director, ACE Open
Installation view, Mariana Castillo Deball: Replaying Life’s Tape, ACE Open, courtesy the artist. Photographer: Sam Roberts.
CAOA in Darwin
25/10/2019
In August this year Contemporary Arts Organisations Australia (CAOA) held their bi-annual meeting in Darwin on Larrakia country to coincide with Darwin Aboriginal Art Fair, the National Aboriginal and Torres-Strait Islander Art Awards, the National Indigenous Music Awards and the Darwin Festival. Regional Arts Australia’s Alana Hunt, spoke with the chair of CAOA Alexie Glass-Kantor, also the Executive Director of Artspace (Sydney).
Alana Hunt: I suspect this is the most northern point in Australia within which your advocacy network has met. How did this location impact the meeting?
Alexie Glass-Kantor: For context, the Contemporary Arts Organisations Australia (CAOA) is a national network of 15 independent and non-collecting contemporary arts organisations, from every state and territory, that advocate for the small to medium visual arts sector in Australia.
Established in 1995, directorates from the CAOA network meet twice a year in different locations across the country, and this recent meeting in Darwin was the first time we visited the Northern Territory in over fifteen years. This meeting was an important opportunity for the member organisations of CAOA to come together during the week of the National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art Awards (NATSIAA), the Darwin Aboriginal Art Fair (DAAF) and auxiliary exhibitions and events, to connect with First Nations practices from across Australia – particularly since the majority of our organisations are working towards reconciliation plans and policies that aim to increase First Nations diversity, not only in programming, but in leadership roles and board representation.
Being in Darwin during NATSIAA and DAAF meant that we had the opportunity to connect with First Nations peers on Larrakia Land. CAOA initiated and hosted a roundtable conversation with Clothilde Bullen, Senior Curator, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Exhibitions and Collections at the Museum of Contemporary Art; Stacie Piper, First Peoples Curator at the TarraWarra Museum of Art; Hannah Presley, Curator, Australian Centre for Contemporary Art; Nici Cumpston, Artistic Director of Tarnanthi Festival of Contemporary Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art at the Art Gallery of South Australia, Kimberley Moulton, Senior Curator of South Eastern Aboriginal Collections, Melbourne Museum and Zoe Rimmer, Senior Curator of Indigenous Cultures at the Tasmania Museum and Art Gallery, to discuss how leadership, advocacy and collaboration can be fully supported within our individual organisations and CAOA more broadly. AH: In contrast to the hundreds of Aboriginal nations that are spread right across the continent, generally speaking the European invasion of Australia has clung to its coastal settlements, and in a sense our contemporary art organisations have too. Besides the obstacles of finance and distance, do you think Australia still finds it difficult to recognise contemporary cultural practices in regional, rural and remote contexts? What is unique about the role the small to medium sector that CAOA represents can play in this sphere?
AGK: As you say, there is a centring of cultural infrastructure within the capital cities so the CAOA network work to engage ethically with regional, rural and remote contexts in ways that are accumulative and considered through time. We are aware of the financial and geographical obstacles that challenge remote and regional artists and communities and this requires CAOA organisations to think very mindfully about ensuring that any collaboration in these contexts is fully supported. Our network needs to take on board a long-term view that builds capacity and collaboration with regional practices to ensure that the diversity of voices of living artists across Australia are heard in our programs . We recognise that it’s important to build resources to support and invest in regional artists, not only by bringing content into the cities but it can also be providing resourceful collaboration that lends capacity elsewhere.
AH: In recent decades there has been significant and on-going efforts to de-centre the Euro-American centres of the art world. The discourses emanating from Dhaka via Shahidul Alam’s biannual festival of photography Chobi Mela and the Dhaka Art Summit which, under the direction of Diana Campbell Betancourt, is working towards building an international connecting point outside of western urban contexts, come to mind. How do these international currents reverberate with your curatorial practices in Australia?
AGK: At the tail end of the exhaustion of ‘globalisation’, it is more critical than ever to create meeting points that exists outside of the historic Western centres, and to acknowledge that economic and geographic issues that affect artists working in regional, remote and rural contexts are concurrent with the challenges that impact Australia overarchingly.
Artspace worked with the Dhaka Art Summit on the 2018 edition, with Sovereign Words, bringing together First Nations writers from four continents over ten days to discuss new models of Indigenous leadership, culminating in a publication, alongside a major co-commission Idols by Ramesh Mario Nithiyendran. In 2020, we will be working with Dhaka Art Summit again, commissioning works by Taloi Havini and supporting a corpus of international collectives to talk about experimentation and critical ideas coming out of collective environments.
Alongside the Dhaka Art Summit, biennials across the region are conscientiously de-centering art away from colonial narratives and scaffolding a diversity of practices. Upcoming exhibitions to follow would include the 2020 Gwangju Biennale curated by Defne Ayas and Natasha Ginwala and NIRIN the 2020 Biennale of Sydney with Artistic Director, Brook Andrew, who will be bringing together First Nations practices and collaborations. Both the Gwangju Biennial and Sydney Biennale are developing comprehensive and in-depth online and web content with the understanding that not all audiences have equitable access to these exhibitions in-situ. Using digital content production effectively can invite audiences who can’t travel to these shows to still engage meaningfully with the unique programming in these biennales.
AH: Can you share any details of exciting upcoming projects involving regional, remote or rural artists that member organisations of CAOA are working with?
AGK: There are a number of key projects. Contemporary Art Tasmania (CAT), will be presenting a major upcoming project involving Walantanalinany Palingina (WaPa), led by a guiding council of Elders and senior practitioners with a short-list of cultural/artistic goals that are being auspiced and, where necessary, facilitated through CAT.
In mid 2020 the Institute of Modern Art (IMA) will present an exhibition exploring saltwater and freshwater fibre practices from the north of Australia. Curated by Freja Carmichael, the show will feature new commissions from artists working across Queensland and the Northern Territory.
Artspace has been invited to curate a pavilion at the 2020 Gwangju Biennale and next year will be presenting a range of First Nations artists from across Australia including remote, rural and regional communities. Artspace has also developed a multi-year national touring program in partnership with Museums & Galleries NSW, which has enabled Artspace exhibitions tour to venues nationally. AH: Finally, what exhibition or event, artist or performer absolutely blew your mind while visiting Darwin?
AGK: This wasn’t my first time in Darwin for the festival but the energy, vitality, life force and spirit of the week was infectious and mind-expanding this year! It was a step forward that CAOA organisations were able to self-fund this trip to attend Darwin for the week of activities around the DAAF, NATSIAA and the Darwin Festival. More than half the CAOA directors had not previously been to the Northern Territory at all, so it was timely for everyone to engage with the breadth and dynamism of works on offer and to gain greater understanding of the way communities across Australia come together to advocate and speak for intergenerational change and First Nations leadership. What really blew our minds was being able to participate in the discussions, exhibitions and activities that were occurring, the opportunity to meet with our curatorial peers, and to have a frank discussion about the kinds of steps that can be taken when thinking about strategic planning and collaboration to move the kinds of policies, missions and visions that shape CAOA organisations forward. We were humbled and fortunate to be participants in the week, to view the breadth of work available and share in the passion, resilience and intellectual strength that underpins First Nations practices across Australia.
Above image: Susan Balbunga, Mät 2018, Gunga (Pandanus Spiralis) and natural dyes. Courtesy of Milingimbi Art and Culture Centre.
CAOA Strategic Plan
09/01/2019
To celebrate the new year CAOA is thrilled to present our Strategic Plan for 2021, which outlines our vision, strategic intent and governance over the next three years.
CAOA Submission to the Major Performing Arts Framework Review
12/12/2018
In November 2018, CAOA produced a written submission to the Major Performing Arts (MPA) Framework review.
In summary, CAOA strongly advocates for a model that facilitates funding continuity rather than funding in perpetuity. It is clearly evident that there are many organisations that sit outside of the MPAs that continue to demonstrate excellence and leadership through ambitious programming and engagement but are not given the same surety of funding as the MPA’s. CAOA highly recommends that the MPAs, in tandem with their sector peer organisations in small-to-medium sector that receives multiyear funding, are demonstrating excellence and leadership should be given surety of funding.
The Contemporary Arts Organisations Australia (CAOA) met for the second time in 2018 to share industry updates, meet with stakeholders, and develop and agree upon a written statement for the Major Performing Arts (MPA’s) Framework. The meetings were convened at the Institute of Modern Art (IMA) to coincide with the opening of the Asia Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art at the Gallery of Modern Art (GOMA) and IMA’s exhibition, The Commute, a collaborative project led by Indigenous curators Freja Carmichael (Quandamooka), Sarah Biscarra Dilley (yak tityu tityu yak tiłhini Northern Chumash, Chicana), Léuli Eshrāghi (Sāmoa, Irānzamin, Guangdong), Tarah Hogue (Métis, Dutch) and Lana Lopesi (Sāmoa), invited as 2018 Visiting Curators at the IMA.
We welcomed new directors, Georgia Hobbs, General Manager, Firstdraft; Adam Harding, Director, CCP; Tracy Burgess, Director, Business & Operations, Gertrude Contemporary and said farewell to outgoing colleagues, Christine Tipton, Gertrude Contemporary; Naomi Cass, CCP; and Patrice Starkey, West Space and congratulated them on their contributions to the network and sector.
Key concerns that arose were transparency, funding, reporting, and data collection. CAOA members are also excited to present our first strategic plan, which will be available on the website shortly and outlines our vision, strategic intent and governance over the next three years. Next year’s meetings will be held in Darwin to coincide with NAATSIA and in Sydney to focus on policies, stakeholder meetings and executive planning workshops.
– Aileen Burns and Johan Lundh, Executive Directors, Institute of Modern Art, Brisbane
Welcome Firstdraft to the CAOA Network
19/11/2018
CAOA warmly welcome Firstdraft to our network of now fifteen organisations from every state and territory in Australia. Under the leadership of newly appointed General Manager, Georgia Hobbs, and her team of amazing staff, directors and volunteers, we look forward to working with Firstdraft as they continue to grow and shape Sydney’s emerging arts sector.
Image: Zan Wimberley
CAOA Update – Adelaide Meeting 2018
23/03/2018
CAOA have been meeting over the past 25-years and we’ve recently launched a website, Facebook and Instagram so we can connect with the broader arts community across these networks. After every meeting, the host organisation will publish a short summary of the challenges and opportunities that are articulated in our meetings so we can share the things that are impacting the small to medium arts sector, beginning with Elizabeth Nowell, CEO, ACE Open.
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Earlier this month, the Contemporary Arts Organisations Australia (CAOA) Network met to discuss industry updates, strategic planning, pressure points and priority areas for research and funding. The meetings were convened on Kaurna Country, Adelaide to coincide with the opening of the Adelaide Biennial and ACE Open’s exhibition Waqt al-tagheer: Time of change featuring eleven – a collective of leading Muslim artists from across Australia. ACE Open and the Samstag Museum at the University of South Australia hosted the network over two days of meetings.
Key concerns that arose from these meetings were to do with housing and infrastructure, staffing and human resources, WHS, funding and reporting as well as a major focus on implementing workplace complaints and sexual harassment policies. CAOA will issue a statement about sexual harassment in the workplace on International Women’s Day.
Since our last meeting in December 2017 we have settled into our new branding with the website caoa.com.au, Instagram @Caoaustralia and Facebook pages all gaining traction.
There was a lot of solidarity between organisations and it was heartening to see all directors come together and speak frankly about the challenges and hurdles they are facing moving forward across the small to medium arts network. It reminded us that we aren’t working in a vacuum and the importance of knowledge exchange between organisations.
The CAOA network continue to deliver a diverse range of programs, and it was wonderful to hear about all the ambitious projects happening across the country.
– Elizabeth Nowell, CEO, ACE Open
MTALKS Things we do Together: How to Sustain an Independant Arts Ecology
01/03/2018
Raquel Ormella, ‘Golden Soil’, 2016. Photo by Sam Cranstoun.
In December 2017, MTalks, Contemporary Art Organisations Australia (CAOA) brought together an esteemed panel of speakers to explore the present-day visual arts ecology from the perspective of independent, not-for-profit, and artist-run sectors.
Independent visual arts organisations occupy a space in the arts ecology—at the intersection of production and development—that necessitates a responsive and agile approach. Considering this unique position, how can the sector maintain equilibrium in a constantly shifting landscape? What is the relationship of independent arts spaces to new models for philanthropy and the changing role of state institutions? What does 21st-century arts advocacy look like? And most importantly, what do artists need from an arts ecology?
Chaired by Alexie Glass Kantor in conversation with Megan Cope, Nicholas Mangan, Channon Goodwin, Charlotte Day, Terry Wu, Mikala Tai, Patrice Sharkey, and Liz Nowell.
Click here to read more by Richard Watts, Arts Hub and listen to the discussion here
Contemporary Arts Organisations Australia submission to Foreign Policy White Paper
28/02/2017
This submission has been prepared by Contemporary Arts Organisations Australia (CAOs) in response to the Department of Foreign Affairs & Trade’s call for contributions to key discussion points that will inform the Foreign Policy White Paper. This submission begins with an introduction to the CAOs network and the important roles that CAOs member organisations play in the Australian arts ecology. The submission concludes with six specific responses to the Foreign Policy White Paper’s stated strategic goals and questions.
NAVA Let’s Talk: Contemporary Arts Organisations Australia
08/08/2016
As the third in a series of ‘town hall’ public discussions at The Gunnery, the National Association for the Visual Arts (NAVA) and Artspace joined the Directors of Contemporary Art Organisations (CAOA) from across Australia in a conversation that is focused on how we should value the small to medium sector. This sector makes a significant contribution to expanding artists’ careers, engaging audiences and developing new works.
Let’s Talk was facilitated by Blair French, Director, Curatorial & Digital, Museum of Contemporary Art, Australia; Alexie Glass-Kantor, Executive Director, Artspace and Chair, CAO; Dr. Lizzie Muller, Program Director, Master of Curating and Cultural Leadership Program at UNSWArt &Design and Brianna Munting, Deputy Director, NAVA.
