What is 'arts digital era'?
'Arts content for the digital era' (or 'artsdigitalera' for short) is The Australia Council's response to the impact of digital technologies on the arts sector, artists and arts audiences.
So what does it mean to be in the digital era?
Some of the artists, organisations and audiences we support have demonstrated the need to be educated in, or to develop a confidence with, digital technologies. Others have been working authoritatively in this space for a decade or more, and need recognition as well as financial (and other) support in order to continue.
Outside of the typical Australia Council community there is an emerging breed of practitioner who might not come from a traditional arts background, but who proactively create and share their work across digital platforms. They attract (and are themselves) an emerging type of audience, possibly a co-creator or a remixer.
The Australia Council needs to continue supporting the two spectrums of the community we already know well. But we also need to start exploring relationships with these 'digital natives'. In working together, learning from each other's unique skills and abilities, we have the potential to produce innovative new creative experiences on platforms which could feasibly provide economic sustainability.
You can learn more about the background behind the strategy by reading the research paper. This outlines four strands which interconnect at the heart of artistic practice; Audiences, Domains, Incomes and Support. From this, we have identified two pilot schemes, experimenting with new models of on-the-ground support (Geek in Residence) and new commissions for digital natives (Digital Culture Fund).
