Last week IFACCA coordinated a meeting of representatives from the Ministry (John Wasi, Permanent Secretary; John Tahinao, Director of Culture; and Francis Waleanisia, Legal Consultant) and the Australia Council for the Arts in Sydney, Australia, to share information about the models for establishing and operating an arts council.
Following the launch in 2012 of a new cultural policy for the Solomon Islands [http://www.spc.int/hdp/index2.php?option=com_docman&task=doc_view&gid=387&Itemid=44], the Ministry of Culture and Tourism in the Solomon Islands is developing legislation for establishing a national arts council. As part of that process, the Permanent Secretary to the Ministry is investigating various models for arts councils, including that of the Australia Council for the Arts.
Chaired by Lee-Ann Buckskin, Chair of the Australia Council’s Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Arts Board (ATSIAB), the Sydney meeting offered a very productive opportunity to discuss a wide range of matters, including core elements of legislation (definitions, principles and functions); governance and service charters; the principles of ‘arms-length’ funding and ‘peer-review’; structural and operational relationships between federal, state and local governments; corporate planning; organisational structures; grant programs, decision-making frameworks and selection criteria; research, analysis and evaluation; and data collection and development of an evidence base.
In addressing the three core elements of its cultural policy – cultural and creative industry; custom and traditional knowledge; and heritage – the Ministry representatives were particularly interested in the strategic work that ATSIAB undertakes in funding initiatives that support cultural vibrancy (retention of traditional language and cultural practices) and artistic vibrancy (creation of new artistic works and performances).
IFACCA’s Executive Director, Sarah Gardner, discussed the global context of arts councils, noting that resources and capacity vary enormously from country to country and that different circumstances require different approaches. Given the increasing interest around the world in this topic, IFACCA is continuing to build a body of information and resources to assist governments to improve the capacity and effectiveness of their arts support agencies.
Current resources include:
- IFACCA’s report on the Independence of Arts Funding: http://www.ifacca.org/topic/independence-of-arts-funding-from-government/
- WorldCP country-profile chapters on Competence, Decision-Making and Administration: http://www.worldcp.org/ and those same chapters in the Compendium of Cultural Policies in Europe
- Arterial Network’s Adapting the Wheel, produced to assist in the development of cultural policies for Africa: http://www.arterialnetwork.org/research/adapting-the-wheel-cultural-policies-for-africa
- The ‘Good Practice Guides’ section on the IFACCA website provides access to resources under the heading: ‘Managing an arts funding agency’: http://www.ifacca.org/goodpractice/