Newcastle’s This Is Not Art Festival Loses Funding

by Helen Henry on July 8, 2011

This week it has been revealed that Newcastle’s This Is Not Art Festival (TINA) has not be granted its triennial Council funding, just 12 weeks out from kick off. According to Festival Director Eliza Adam, the $18,000 in question could make the difference between the festival going ahead or not, and certainly the standard at which it is delivered.

The festival runs over 5 days and consists of over 250 free events including workshops, panels, performances, speeches and exhibitions showcasing emerging art & media forms. It’s been happening each year since 1998 and attracts 5000 visitors a& $1.5 million to the city. In 2011, the festival plans to to present:

• Crack Theatre Festival
• Critical Animals
• Electrofringe
• The National Young Writers’ Festival
• Sound Summit

Festival Director Eliza Adam said, ““It’s challenging to say the least, to present a festival which involves theatrical and musical performances without lighting, staging or sound. This will directly impact the audience experience and the ability of artists to present their work authentically…If we don’t have sound & lighting many aspects of the festival may not be able to go ahead in their usual format, if at all, so further support is vital”.

As reported in the Newcastle Herald, the Council has advised that funding, which comes from the Community Assistance Program, is becoming more and more competitive and the Festival just didn’t make the cut this year. In the same report, Renew Newcastle founder Marcus Westbury expressed his disappointment with the result:

“I’m disappointed we may be losing the festival. It makes a valuable contribution and represents Newcastle as a significant performing arts and craft community,” he said yesterday.

UPDATE 10/7/11: TINA has set up an account on Pozible where you can donate to help. They’ve raised over $4500 already - well done to the 93 people who’ve donated so far! Let’s keep it going!