Q&A: Danielle Caruana (Mama Kin) on the arts budget cuts and The Seed
John Butler and Danielle Caruana (Mama Kin)’s non-for-profitartist grant fund is celebrating its 11th year with a fundraiser and crowd-funding campaign.
A first for The Seed Fund, the effort to support its 2016 activities comes at an opportune time as an inquiry into the actions of Federal Minister for the Arts, SenatorGeorge Brandisis waiting to take place.
Brandis initiated cuts of up to $104.8 million over four years from the Australia Council for the Arts, an increase of the $28.2 million which was cut from the Council’s budgetin 2014.
Speaking to TMN, Danielle Caruana chats about why grants schemes like The Seed Fund are more important than ever, what she sees as the repercussions from the cuts, and the obstacles which local grants funds face.
Have your reasons for steering The Seed Fund changed since its launch?
No.I think at the core of what we do still remains the same. We are motivated to bolster emerging Australian music.That was why we started the fund.We believe in the quality and the potential of Australian music, on a national and international level.We also believe that art articulates culture and the more of our own cultural art we are exposed to, the more that we, as a society, feel a sense of identity that is authentic and enriching.
Did the proposed cuts to arts have anything to do with your decision to run the fundraiser and crowd funding campaign?
Not directly, but the news about the cuts did reinforce the need for artistic support mechanisms that aren't at the mercy of government's fickle policy and law makers that bend and change in accordance with the ways that the poll winds blow.
The proposed cuts could create a tipping point for the industry, has it changed your vision for The Seed Fund?
Not really. We aren't a big bucks fund, but we are proud of what we do because through our initiatives like the Management Workshop, we are able to create networks, and empower emerging music managers with the knowledge and concepts that can hopefully help them make their artists self sustained, and ultimately less grant dependent. Our focus has always been about creating more self-sustained artists. These cuts to arts funding further highlight the fact that artists who are not reliant on a support system that is vulnerable to the taste of whoever the current office-holders are, will be in a stronger position to prosper and flourish on their own terms.
What's your stance on the cuts, what do you see as the repercussions?
These cuts are short sighted.I think that the Australian contemporary music industry is a viable and thriving community that holds appeal and value across a wide demographic.
A vibrant and diverse arts scene is crucial to the social well being of a nation and developmental funding for this is essential. I have already heard of a number of small to medium arts organisations having to rethink their future and potentially close their doors following the recent cuts and this unsettles me as it has repercussions for cultural diversity and complexity. But in saying that, I believe wholeheartedly in the resilience of the Australian arts sector and I have no doubt they will reinvent themselves and continue to engage and inspire on stages worldwide.
I just wish our current government would believe in, and invest in, the value such creators and thinkers weave into the fabric of our society.
What do you consider some of the biggest obstacles for running a grants program like The Seed Fund?
Raising funds!We run independently of government funding.We have been raising money through the generous contributions of philanthropists within the music industry, and a couple of staunch believers in the value of bolstering emerging artists. The fundraiser event and the Pozible campaign herald a shift in the way we hope to raise money in the future, that is, we want to engage the broader community in our activities because we believe strongly that the Australian public shares our passion for supporting new talent. The other biggest obstacle is how many applicants we have to say ‘no’ to every year given we receive more than 200 applicants for each of the categories, annually.
The Seed Fund has popularised the idea of Australian talent operating on self-sustaining independent business models. Was this a key motive 11 years ago?
Yes. We started the fund with the motto – "Give a person a fish, they will eat for a day. Teach them how to fish…." and that is still the driving force. How do we take what we have learnt in created our own self sufficient model, tap into the networks that we have around us, and build a bridge of information and support between those that are accomplished within the music industry and those that are emerging? From this place initiatives were born such as The Seed Management Workshop which is like a boot camp of management 101, an information and skills-sharing workshop that pulls together emerging managers with industry leaders from all facets of the music business and Inbound – a program that introduces key music industry folk from urban areas to remote indigenous community music festivals.
What impact do you feel the Seed Fund has had on the wider local music community?
I think it has been a connector of information and people in the emerging and established realms of the industry. We hope to nurture the idea that the industry is a community of people who truly love and are dedicated to Australian music being the best that it can be. At the centre of this is the spirit of generosity.
The Australian music scene is punching way above its weight. Australian people want to hear Australian music, not just because it is Australian, but because it resonates with us, and because it is really good! The latest stats have triple j sitting above the commercial radio stations for listenership in the age range of 29-35. triple j plays 55% Australian content. This is great news. The Seed is not in any way solely responsible for this, but we are very proud to play a part in championing Australian music and supporting the next wave.