The Australia Council for the Arts today announced a commitment of $600,000 over three years to increase the promotion and presentation of artistic practice of three multicultural arts organisations.

The funding will support Brisbane Multicultural Arts Centre, Footscray Community Arts Centre and Nexus Multicultural Arts Centre SA to produce high quality art that reflects multicultural Australia. Each organisation will receive $200,000 for three years.

Australia Council Multicultural Advisory Committee (ACMAC) chair Nicky Downer said the funding would support individual artists and build the capacity of cultural organisations to develop and present artistic works that showcase Australia’s cultural diversity.

‘The Australia Council is committed to effective partnerships with these organisations and to building networks that facilitate community participation and produce sustainable outcomes for Australia’s multicultural arts,’ said Nicky Downer.

Brisbane Multicultural Arts Centre (BEMAC)

BEMAC’s One for All – Courage, Diversity, Tolerance and Harmony is a project which supports a series of community-driven, cross-cultural art exchanges. It will focus on young people aged 12-25 from emerging refugee communities. Two artforms will be promoted each year.

In partnership with South Bank Corporation and leading artists, BEMAC will work with young people to develop a signature musical event and a public art piece expressing multicultural Australia, which will be installed in Brisbane’s South Bank precinct.

Footscray Community Arts Centre

Footscray Community Arts Centre’s program will target specific multicultural communities in order to increase community participation. Planned activities include translating promotional resources, providing access to language interpreters, transporting ethnic communities to arts events, and developing community ambassadors.

These activities will be linked to high quality arts initiatives including Crystalise (in association with Australian Centre for Contemporary Art), cultural events and other in-house programs initiated by the Footscray Community Arts Centre.

Nexus Multicultural Arts Centre SA

Nexus’s program will engage professional artists, performers, writers, cultural facilitators and academics to develop and present exhibitions, concert programs, and forums, which will increase dialogue on contemporary arts with a wide range of audience groups.

Titled New Stories: Old Stories, Nexus plans to work with significant South Australian partners: the Hawke Centre, Samstag Program, the University of South Australia and the Jam Factory. The program will culminate in a festival titled Diverse cultures: New Horizons in Art and Life in 2009.