Referencing the Australia Council for the Arts’ research area Arts Futures as the anchor for conversation, this edition of ASEF Unplugged aims to spur local arts workers to begin thinking about their future as artists, their roles in society, and their connectedness beyond our island.

Often, artists and producers are concerned with the immediate challenges and practicalities of making work locally. Yet, to live in an interconnected world undergoing profound disruption now demands their attention to urgently respond and plan for possible futures.

This edition of ASEF Unplugged: Arts Futures can be attended in two parts, either or both:

Part One:

Join us for an afternoon of sharing by Dr Ruth Williams, Research Associate from the Australia Council for the Arts. The Arts Futures body of work explores the evolving environment for the arts and society in Australia. Its research activities draws on knowledge that looks to the past and learns from the present, with the aims of identifying, understanding the challenges of disruption and harnessing its opportunities for the future. Dr Ruth will introduce key themes of focus and the research findings that arose out of Arts Futures. It will be followed by responses from the Singapore contexts delivered by Ms Yvonne Tham, CEO of The Esplanade Co Ltd, and Ms Hasyimah Harith, Company Manager of P7:1SMA. The conversation will be moderated by Ms Fatima Avila, Project Manager at ASEF.

Part Two:

Participate in a workshop facilitated by Ms Bec Barnett, co-director of Relative Creative (Australia), exploring the question “What is the role of the arts in the face of uncertain and fragile futures, in an interconnected world?” This rapid taster 3-hour workshop uses a unique design thinking process to explore and map out how change and disruption might be navigated and what role art might play in this. We encourage participants from a variety of sectors to join us, forming interdisciplinary teams for a collective navigation of the socially and ethically-complext web emerging from an increased global focus on technologies

This session of ASEF Unplugged was jointly presented by ASEF, Australia Arts Council, and Centre 42.

There is no doubt that cultural mobility, or the temporary cross-border movement of artists and cultural professionals, is the backbone of international cultural cooperation. In fact, international travel is considered an integral part of the everyday work life of arts practitioners for professional cooperation and growth in an increasingly interconnected world.

However, we now live in the time of climate change and many stakeholders are calling for reduced travel, especially air travel. We also live in the time of increased tension between people and nations alike, and for many, the future is uncertain and fragile. Given these current situations, should we travel less, or should we, because of exactly these times we live in, travel more?

This ASEF Unplugged session will explore both ends of the spectrum of travel and sustainability: the funders’ and the artists’ point of view; the practical perspectives and the philosophical arguments; the changing natures of a global culture and recognition of the other, and a more holistic approach to sustainability – which oftentimes get reduced to a discussion about Co2 emissions.

This session of ASEF Unplugged was jointly presented by ASEF and Centre 42.

With the growth and increasing professionalisation of arts ecosystems around the world in recent years, there has been a surge of attention paid to the role of the producer and the value of producing networks, with an accompanying rise in the number of performing arts markets, meetings, and network events, and producing platforms and organisations.

Whilst these network organisations play a vital role in advocacy, capability development, increasing artistic exchanges, opening touring opportunities, and bringing diverse practitioners together, there have also been questions raised about the role and power of the producer, and the extent to which such network organisations improve accessibility and distribution of opportunities for independent artists, or whether they reproduce the concentration of power and influence in the hands of a few.

In this ASEF Unplugged session, we look at different models of producer networks and producing organisations from the UK, Republic of Korea, and Singapore, and learn how they have responded to the conditions of art-making in their respective ecosystems.

How have models of producing and establishing networks for artists changed and evolved over the years, and how might they look in the future? What are the problems and pitfalls of having established networks and producing organisations, and what are the different ways they can work with artists sustainably and effectively?

This session of ASEF Unplugged was jointly presented by ASEF, Producers SG, and Centre 42.