Western Australia's Indigenous arts and culture industry has been boosted after the state government's latest round of funding grants saw a quarter of $1.8m allocated by the WA government to 29 organisations go to Indigenous arts bodies.
First Nations individual performers and informal groups were also among the 46 applicants who received $1.3m across that stream, which included musicians, visual artists, designers and performing artists.
A total of $3.1 million was allocated in arts funding announced Wednesday. The grants, which occur three times a year, offer artists, creatives and organisations up to $80,000 each to deliver one-off projects or events.
The cash injection is critical to WA's arts sector, which has been slow to recover from COVID lockdowns and lacks the massive private sponsorship enjoyed by its eastern states counterparts.
WA Culture and the Arts Minister David Templeman said the sector was in vital need of funding, with the latest recipients now able to further develop their projects or bring them to life.
"The 75 recipients presented a diverse range of creative endeavours and events, which reflect the great depth of talent that we have in WA," he said.
"I urge the public to support these worthy recipients at a community level when these incredible projects are completed, and the events take place."
The major investment comes after the Labor government last month handed $2m to 17 regional arts bodies over a three-year period, to help deliver arts and music events, cultural development programs and other initiatives, via its latest Regional Arts Sector Investment Program grants, with two First Nations bodies among them.
Recipients of Wednesday's Arts Project grants included renowned Indigenous musicians Gina Williams and Guy Ghouse, after Wanjoo Pty Ltd was granted $31,241 for the pair's residency and performance at the 2024 Llais Festival in Cardiff.
Their residency will include six workshops with linguistically-diverse young people, connecting culture and language, while learning songs that will be performed as a youth choir of more than 150 voices.
The pair were among leading Indigenous artists and creative groups that worked closely with Mr Grandage across the Perth Festival's series of Noongar-themed programs, which celebrated and continued the evolution of its culture.
Mr Grandage is now a board member at Tourism WA, which recently made a massive investment in EverNow, a two-year Indigenous arts festival initiative that attracted 100,000 people in its first year.
A respected musical director, composer, conductor and performer for some 30 years, Mr Grandage is one of Australia's most regarded collaborative artists in his own right, who's commitment and connection to Noongar culture should open further doors for emerging and established Indigenous artists.
The latest round of funding to WA's arts sector comes amid its bad rebound from COVID and decades of generous funding from the resources sector - arguably greater than grants from the state's arts budget - now under threat due to heightening social and climate activism.
The WA sector's Chamber of Arts and Culture recently reported that a mid-2022 wellbeing survey found 63 per cent of respondents had "immediate issues with operating costs, totalling $30 million".
Applications for the next funding round are open and close on May 30 2024. Individuals and groups can check online for more information. More details for interested organisations are also online.
Latest recipients of the Arts Projects (individuals, groups and organisations) grants:
* Van der heyden, Christy – Gutharraguda Kaju Katka (Skywalk), TEXTILES FROM THE PARK – $79,982
HOOSH Designs has been invited by local Traditional Custodian and SkyWalk Café operators Nhanda Enterprises in Kalbarri National Park to contribute to the The Nanda Gutharraguda Kaju Katka (Skywalk) bush tucker project event by creating a fashion and wearable arts project.
* Big hART Inc – Punkaliyarra Creative Development – $75,000
Multi-art form project that will deliver two creative developments of a performance work in Roebourne from May to December 2024.
* Centre for Culture and Technology, Curtin University – String Craft: Bilum + Dilly Bags – $53,100
'String Craft: Bilum + Dilly Bags' will exhibit at the Indian Ocean Craft Triennial, commencing November 2024, to promote Western Australian string craft artists and practices. The exhibition will celebrate the cultural and gendered significance of string crafts to indigenous Australian and Papua New Guinean communities, notably the Aboriginal Dilly Bag and the PNG Bilum.
* Esperance Tjaltjraak Native Title Aboriginal Corporation RNTBC – Moorditj Koominyoo Dit Koorl (Strong Community Together) – $78,000
Esperance Tjaltjraak Native Title Aboriginal Corporation will deliver three linked community arts projects led by First Nations artists in 2024: NAIDOC Week, Esperance Wildflower Festival, and Boodja Dwordak Wirn / Bringing Country's Spirit Back to Life Light Trail with Illuminart. These projects will produce two public community sculpture outcomes and two community dance performances.
* Jindahood Pty Ltd – Follow the Sun – $40,000
WA singer and songwriter to create a book of songs and illustrations in both Noongar and English in Perth and Bunbury from June 2024 to April 2025.
* Wanjoo Pty Ltd – Gina Williams and Guy Ghouse Llais Festival (Cardiff) Residency – $31,241
Gina Williams and Guy Ghouse will engage in a residency and a performance at the 2024 Llais Festival, Cardiff. The residency will include six workshops with linguistically diverse young people, connecting culture and language, while learning songs that will be performed as a youth choir of more than 150 voices.
* Warlayirti Artists Aboriginal Corporation Inc – Annual Program of Events and Outreach – $79,921
Aboriginal arts organisation to deliver an annual program of events & outreach across the Kutjungka/Kimberley from May 2024 to April 2025.
* Woodfordia Inc – Off the Beaten Track – $57,585
Not-for-profit community organisation to commission musicians to perform live original music in small local halls in rural/regional WA from June to September 2024.
