Report to Government

Gallipoli Symphony

4.4In 2006, as part of the preparations for the Anzac Centenary, the Department of Veterans’ Affairs commissioned the ‘Gallipoli Symphony’ as a creation to symbolise the triumph of cooperation and friendship over adversity. By 2015, the symphony will be a culmination of ten years of cooperative development between composers from Australia, New Zealand and Turkey. The full symphony will be approximately one hour long and some movements have already been performed in the early hours of Anzac Day as part of the reflective program at Gallipoli. As well as the live performance, video has been shot of each composer as they undertake their work and they are interviewed about the experience. These short documentaries also form part of the reflective program. It is proposed that the international premiere of the Gallipoli Symphony be held in Turkey in 2015, followed by performances in Australia and New Zealand. Financial support—both private and public—will allow the work to be performed at a wider range of venues so more people have the opportunity to listen to it.

Australian War Requiem

4.5The composition and performance of a major new choral work—an Australian War Requiem—to commemorate the centenaries of the outbreak of the First World War and the Gallipoli campaign, would be a significant artistic contribution to the Centenary. The proposal by the Sydney University Graduate Choir would draw on the texts of excerpts of letters exchanged between Australian mothers and their sons at the front. This proposal has the support of the Board and of the Governor of New South Wales, who is familiar with the choir and the composer.

Joint Australian–New Zealand War Art Exhibition

4.6A joint Australian–New Zealand War Art Exhibition was first proposed by New Zealand and is strongly supported by the Board. War art held in Australian (including state and territory) and New Zealand galleries, the Australian War Memorial, Archives New Zealand, other cultural institutions and private collections provide historically important and creative works that the Board believes should be widely accessible to the people of both countries during the Centenary. Such an exhibition would be a significant joint cultural event. Planning by the Australian War Memorial and Archives New Zealand is aimed at developing a significant, high-quality exhibition of war art from the time of the First World War up to contemporary conflicts and peacekeeping operations. The expectation is that the exhibition would undertake some limited touring within Australia, as well as being shown in New Zealand.

State and territory arts festivals

4.7States and territories conduct major arts festivals each year. These are frequently international events with broad programs in terms of the creative media being employed, and a range of content being performed or exhibited. The Chair has met with the organisers of major festivals to make them aware of the Anzac Centenary period and to request their consideration of artistic ideas and events that could contribute to the Centenary. These could range from exploring a relevant theme in an existing presentation to development of a new initiative. The Board considers that Australia’s arts festivals provide very valuable and creative opportunities through which Australians may explore the impact of war. An illustration of a festival event is the theatrical/musical creation, the ‘Black Diggers’ project, being planned for presentation at the Sydney Festival in 2014. The event is inspired by the Indigenous Australians who enlisted during 1914–18. Despite fighting and dying for Australia, at that time Indigenous Australians were prohibited from voting, marrying non-Indigenous partners or buying property.

4.8A further illustration of the educational power of artistic events is the proposal for an Australian Defence Force play that personalises Australia’s recent experience of war, with performers including veterans who have been physically or mentally wounded in recent operations. The play would help educate audiences about the impact and challenges of military operations, including wounds and injuries, on servicemen, servicewomen and their families. The play could also aid the recovery of the wounded, injured and ill servicemen and servicewomen involved, and give the community an opportunity to demonstrate their support for wounded veterans and their families.

Anzac Centenary Artistic Director

4.9The Board believes that there would be value in establishing the position of an Anzac Centenary Artistic Director to provide ongoing advice and facilitation for a suite of creative activities to commemorate the Centenary throughout the commemorative period.

5Funding and merchandising

The aims of this chapter are to outline the Board’s views on:

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  funding issues
  
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  private funding
  
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  state and territory proposals
  
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  merchandising
  
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  increased funding for self-generated community commemorative initiatives
  
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  competitions and prizes.
  

Funding issues

5.1Taking into account all initiatives that will contribute to a memorable commemorative period, the Australian Government has already committed approximately $115 million in funding for Anzac Centenary-related initiatives. The Board recognises that any requests for additional Commonwealth funding arising from this report will need to be considered in this context and be carefully justified. This is the reason the Board has engaged in a rigorous process to identify what it believes to be essential additional proposals.

5.2The proposals have been selected on the basis of their merits, irrespective of funding availability or funding sources. Two other important factors will impact on funding decisions:

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  lead-times—the start of the Centenary in August 2014 is approaching fast. Essential projects that have long lead times between approval of funding and project completion require early decision making if they are to be ready on time. For this reason the Board supports the progressive announcement of Centenary initiatives, as this enables implementation planning and execution to proceed for some initiatives, while other proposals are being considered
  
• 
  some projects are more amenable to private funding. Private funding will be encouraged by a suitable policy framework (see next section).