The Art Association of Australia and New Zealand (AAANZ) advocates for art history and the visual arts. In 2017 the Association established several advocacy working groups to address issues which had been identified by the AAANZ Membership and the Executive as crucial. 1. Advocacy Committee This advocacy group is the first point of contact in […]
Support Art History at VUW Art History at Victoria University of Wellington is under threat. As the result of a recent Change Proposal, the department is facing the imminent loss of a Senior Lecturer, along with its Administrator – with further staff cuts threatened in a year’s time. In order to maintain the collective excellence of the department we must strongly resist such cuts. Submissions are open on all aspects of this proposal. In order to make explicitly clear the vital role played by this department in the arts landscape of Aotearoa New Zealand, we encourage you to make a […]
I recently wrote to the Vice-Chancellor of the University of Auckland regarding the proposal to shut down their Elam Fine Arts Library. You can view my letter here: https://aaanz.info/letter-from-aaanz-on-the-elam-fine-arts-library/ The response I received from the Vice-Chancellor, Stuart McCutcheon, argued that the University’s review and restructure process “does not provide for submissions from external parties.” In my view this unsatisfactory response shows how short-sighted the University administration is, particularly given the historic and contemporary significance of the Library to the local and broader art communities. A sense of the institution’s current priorities can be gained from the significant amounts of money […]
The Art Association of Australia and New Zealand strongly supports same-sex marriage and encourages all eligible members of the Association to answer “Yes” in the Australian Marriage Law Postal Survey. As the Association believes that all people should be treated equally under the law, it takes the view that everybody should be able to marry the person they love. In this way, the Association upholds a fundamental human right and respects the freedoms and rights of all members of the community. The Association also strongly and unequivocally supports our LGBTIQ members and encourages all members to reach out to […]
A letter from Professor Charles Green and Dr Lyndell Green, endorsed by AAANZ President Anthony White: We are writing to express our deep and grave concern at the closure of the Castlemaine Art Museum and the sacking of its staff, due to the long-running crisis in the Museum’s finances. The Board of the Gallery has emailed all its members announcing the Gallery’s closure (into a state akin to hibernation or mothballing, as opposed to being wound up) and, it seems, the sacking of the staff due to the Gallery’s inability to continue professional operations within its tiny income. The Board hopes this […]
An update on the Sydney College of the Arts situation from Professor Stephen Garton, Provost and Deputy Vice-Chancellor of the University of Sydney. Dear Art Association of Australia and New Zealand, Thank you for your previous interest in SCA. As a representative of the Visual Arts community who provided feedback on the developments at SCA, we wanted to share key details of the final change plan with you. Today we released the Final Change Plan (FCP) to staff. In this document we outline the following changes: The high-level plan for relocation in 2019 to the Camperdown/Darlington Campus (the Old Teachers […]
The Art Association of Australia and New Zealand (AAANZ) advocacy policy sets out the guidelines for the Association in relation to issues that directly affect its members. The Association aims to address matters in the public domain which are of concern to its members. In pursuit of this goal AAANZ seeks to foster productive working relationships between members, […]
Closure of the Sydney College of the Arts Anthony White, President of the AAANZ, has written to Michael Spence, Vice Chancellor of the University of Sydney, to express our concerns over the proposed closure of the Sydney College of the Arts. You can read more about the proposed closure and merger with UNSW here in a statement from NAVA Executive Director Tamara Winikoff: https://visualarts.net.au/news-opinion/2016/SCA-mediarelease-12July16/ We encourage all our members to write to the Vice Chancellor of the University of Sydney, Dr Michael Spence, to state their position on what we believe is a very concerning development for arts education in the region. Letters can be emailed […]
Address by Ann Stephen, President, AAANZ 19 November 2012 There is widespread concern at the closure of TAFE art training across all sectors of the arts. The Art Association of Australia & NZ (AAANZ) calls on the government to restore public funding for TAFE arts courses across Australia. Last weekend the Arts Section of the Australian Academy of Humanities also expressed concern at the proposed closure in the TAFE sector. Since all education is a continuum that leads potentially into tertiary studies every sector needs to support potential. Both AAANZ and the Academy are particularly concerned at how the closure […]
Sign the petition to save Art History at La Trobe. Art History at La Trobe University has been axed in the first round of savage job cuts in the Humanities and Social Sciences at La Trobe, amounting to the loss of two permanent lecturing positions, as well as casual teaching staff. This is despite the fact that the Art History program has healthy numbers, is cost-effective and is being taught by staff with high research outputs. La Trobe’s scholarly art historians have made a significant contribution to the intellectual life of this country and overseas since the 1970s. Students have […]
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