With the effects of Covid-19 amplifying daily in Australia, New Zealand and around the world, wide sweeping measures are being implemented to limit its spread. This includes the temporary closure of universities and cultural institutions, the cancelling or postponement of entertainment and sporting events and the restriction of passage across borders both within and between countries. AAANZ extends its concerns and sympathies to all members, colleagues and industry stakeholders as we navigate through profound changes to daily life and the economic upheaval that is being created.
Many forthcoming conferences and art events are being reduced in scope, postponed or cancelled. This will have financial repercussions for the arts and cultural sector. At this stage it is anticipated the annual AAANZ conference to be hosted by the Power Institute, University of Sydney in collaboration with the University of New South Wales from 1 to 4 December will go ahead as planned. The executive and conference organisers expect that the crisis will have sufficiently abated by this time, however, we are monitoring the situation and any changes will be promptly communicated.
Nominations for the AAANZ prizes which are awarded each year at our annual conference are now open for 2020. Nominations close for prizes on Friday 26 June. PhD prize nominations close Friday 9 October.
Call for Papers for the Australian and New Zealand Journal of Art, Volume 21 Issue 1 are now open. Expressions of Interest close Tuesday 31 March, with final submission due Friday 10 July. This special issue Reconfiguring the World: The Art of Greater China and its Diasporas will be edited by Associate Professor Claire Roberts and Dr Mark Erdmann.
Concerns are mounting about the economic ramifications Covid-19 will have on the arts and cultural sector and the financial impacts that will result. The National Association for the Visual Arts (NAVA) is undertaking a survey to better understand the effects this will have on the sector. It will be used as an advocacy tool to leverage increased support from governments. This may be particularly relevant for AAANZ members, colleagues and other industry stakeholders who have an arts practice or whose livelihood is impacted by the cancellation of cultural events. I encourage you to complete the survey by clicking the link below and circulating it to anyone for whom it may be relevant.
These are unprecedented times and AAANZ is reviewing ways in which we can better serve the membership during the days and months ahead. AAANZ also needs your continued support to ensure the future viability of the Association and to make certain it can continue the important work it currently undertakes for the sector. To this end I urge you to renew your membership.
Please don’t hesitate to contact me with any concerns or suggestions. At present it is business as usual for the administration team in Darwin. If we remain positive at this time and continue to work collectively as an industry, this will ensure the sector is strong and viable into the future.
Wendy Garden, AAANZ President