The Art Association of Australia and New Zealand (AAANZ) stands in solidarity with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and tangata whenua (Indigenous peoples) of Aotearoa New Zealand and all those who seek racial equality and justice. We recognise that systemic racism extends to people of colour across Australia and Aotearoa New Zealand, as Australia’s […]
AAANZ president Wendy Garden has written to the Vice-Chancellor of La Trobe University to express our concerns over proposed changes to the Visual Arts program and the Visual Cultures major at La Trobe University. AAANZ has expressed its concerns stating that: The Art Association of Australia New Zealand (AAANZ) offers its strong support to the Visual Arts program and the Visual Cultures major at La Trobe University. Now facing major challenges due to the University’s restructuring plans, Visual Arts and Visual Cultures are successful and distinctive units which make an important contribution to research and education in this region. It […]
As is the case with many other Humanities-related programs at UH-Manoa, the administration is considering “temporarily stopping out” the MA program in Art History until “the faculty can modify the program to attract more students.” This is despite the fact that the department has already successfully corrected every concern listed in the administration’s own recommendation document. In short, like other programs, the decision is not based on the actual value and health of the program, but purely on low graduate student enrolment and a low prioritization of the Humanities at the university. I argue that the MA program in Art […]
With the Job Ready Graduate Bill being passed to a Senate Committee AAANZ president Wendy Garden has prepared another submission outlining our concerns about the proposed funding changes. Australia needs to invest in higher education for the future and not skew students to some disciplines at the expense of others. AAANZ recommends that the bill not be passed in its current form and that full consultation is undertaken to ensure that humanities education remains accessible and equitable and does not unfairly discriminate against some cohorts of students. The bill in its current form is out of step with the egalitarian, […]
An inquiry into Australia’s creative and cultural industries and institutions has opened for submissions. AAANZ will be making a submission on behalf of our members, but we encourage individual submissions as well. See below for a link to a survey individuals can fill out. You can read an excerpt from the announcement below, and ArtsHub here has an overview of how to contribute ‘Why you should make a submission to the Parliamentary Inquiry into the arts‘. On 26 August 2020 Minister for Communications, Hon Paul Fletcher MP asked the Committee to inquire into and report on Australia’s creative and cultural […]
AAANZ president Wendy Garden has written to the six crossbench senators in federal parliament to express our concerns over the proposed changes to university fees and funding. See our submission on the package here: https://aaanz.info/advocacy-aaanz-letter-to-minister-dan-tehan-on-the-job-ready-graduates-package/ Key concerns include: The increase in fees for Humanities degrees by 113%. The impact on women of these fee hikes, as women make up two-thirds of students enrolled in Humanities degrees, with long term impacts on financial security and widening the gender gap. The basic premise of the ‘Jobs ready’ package which implies that Humanities and the arts does not create graduates with job-relevant skill […]
The AAANZ president Wendy Garden has written to the Federal Minister for Education on behalf of AAANZ members in response to the proposed changes to fees and funding for undergraduate degrees as part of the Job-ready Graduates Package legislation. Read the letter below.
The AAANZ committee invites members to add their name to the following letter to be sent in support of our colleagues at UNSW where proposed staff cuts and faculty mergers are likely to affect academics working in art history, theory and practice. Read the letter below and add your signature via this link (opens a Google Doc, scroll to end and add name and affiliation, no need to log in). UPDATE – the letter has been closed to new signatures to be forwarded to UNSW. AAANZ is dedicated to offering support to members affected by the current cuts facing staff […]
On Monday 6 July, the Executive Committee of the Art Association of Australia New Zealand wrote to The Hon Paul Fletcher MP, Minister for Communications, Cyber Safety, and the Arts outlining their concerns with the proposed decision to cut staff by 10% at the National Gallery of Australia and what the ramifications would be with such a decision on the sector. Dear Minister, The Art Association of Australia and New Zealand (AAANZ), the peak professional body representing art historians, artists, and art curators in Australasia and the Pacific, objects strongly to the decision to cut 10% of staff at the […]
Staff cuts will hurt the National Gallery of Australia, but it’s not spending less on art. It’s just spending it differently Thennicke/Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA Joanna Mendelssohn, University of Melbourne On September 10 1965, Sir Robert Menzies commissioned the National Art Gallery Committee of Inquiry to consider the establishment of a national gallery for Australia. The resulting Lindsay Report, published in 1966, is an ambitious document, describing an art gallery to serve the nation through the quality and range of its collections and exhibitions. It emphasised the need to have an all encompassing collection of Australian art. The report recognised, […]
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