Creating Cities
Marcus WestburyBooks, Cultural Policy
Melbourne: Niche Press, 2015. 192 pp. Paperback
ISBN: 9780992568740
Reviewed by Shane Homan, March 3rd, 2016
The story of Australia’s most famous urban ‘intervention’ that provides a different model and scale of state-cultural industry relationships. The literature on the ‘creative’ or ‘cultural’ city is now substantial, driven by scholarly interest in how artistic creativity becomes embedded (or not) within cityscapes; and city administrators looking to cultural practices for urban regeneration, competitive… continue reading »
It’s Culture, Stupid: Reflections of an Arts Bureaucrat
Leigh TabrettBooks, Cultural Policy
Strawberry Hills, Currency House 2013. 69pp.
ISBN 9780987211439
www.currencyhouse.org.au
Reviewed by David Mayocchi, April 25th, 2014
Leigh Tabrett has made a thoughtful contribution to Platform Papers quarterly essay series. Tabrett’s It’s Culture, Stupid: Reflections of an Arts Bureaucrat identifies some serious funding and policy issues that challenge the Australian arts sector. Tabrett was at the helm of Arts Queensland from 2005 to 2012 and her insights reflect the thinking of someone… continue reading »
Making New Zealand’s Pop Renaissance: State, Markets, Musicians
Michael ScottBooks, Cultural Policy, Music Business
Farnham, England: Ashgate 2013, 185 Pages
ISBN 9781409443353
www.ashgate.com
Reviewed by David Mayocchi, August 1st, 2014
As a “small, isolated, commodity dependent” trading nation, New Zealand is a difficult place to maintain a career in music. This was particularly the case during the 1990s when the country was undergoing some fairly strong “neo-liberal” reforms under the Bolger-Shipley National Government. The election of Helen Clarke’s Labour Government in 1999 produced a range… continue reading »
The Arts and the Common Good
Katharine BrisbaneBooks, Cultural Policy
Sydney: Currency House, Platform Papers Issue #43, May 2015. 72 pp
ISBN13 978 0 9924890 4-5
www. currencyhouse.org.au
Reviewed by Inge Southcott, June 1st, 2015
Platform Papers are scholarly quarterly essays produced by Currency House Inc., a Sydney-based non-profit organisation, formed in 2001, which seeks to raise the level of public discourse about issues facing the arts today (see www. currencyhouse.org.au). In this, Paper Number 43, Katherine Brisbane, theatre critic and historian, expresses her deep concerns about the current health… continue reading »
The Creative Industries: Culture and Policy
Terry FlewBooks, Cultural Policy
London and Thousand Oaks: Sage University Press, 2012. 232 pp.
ISBN 978-1-84787-575-4
Reviewed by Shane Homan, April 1st, 2014
Since the late 1990s, ‘the creative industries’ has been the primary conceptual engine in thinking and policy about arts and culture in western societies. This book provides a thorough account of the term’s development, from the original blueprint of the UK Blair government, to its many national and regional variations. As both policy practitioner and… continue reading »
The Music of Place: Reclaiming a practice
Jon RoseBooks, Cultural Policy
Sydney: Currency House, May 2013, Platform Papers No 35
ISBN 978 0 987211446
Reviewed by Michael Hannan, April 1st, 2014
This book is part of the Currency House’s Platform Papers, an ‘informed quarterly essay series seeking new directions’ in performance and media arts and associated arts industry practices. Jon Rose (b. 1951) is a composer, sound artist, improviser, violinist and instrument maker working in the experimental music tradition. He has recently been recognised with the… continue reading »
The Time Is Ripe for the Great Australian Musical
John SenczukBooks, Cultural Policy
Sydney: Currency House. Platform Papers. Quarterly Essays on the Performing Arts. No. 42, February 2015. 74pp.
ISBN 978 0 9924890 3 8
www.currencyhouse.org.au
Reviewed by Richard Letts, April 2nd, 2015
John Senczuk has spent 30 years in music theatre, dance and drama as a designer, director, writer for and about theatre, academic, manager. His special passion for music theatre has led him to make a magnificent proposal, outlined in this edition of Currency House’s wonderful series of quarterly monographs, Platform Papers. These are important ideas… continue reading »
