MAV Conversations

We’re hosting roundtable conversations throughout August 2024. By hosting the conversations, we hope to reconnect and meet new creatives and communities with which we can meaningfully discuss the future. Participants will be paid for their time.

We are asking creatives and creative communities to sit down with us for a casual roundtable conversation ahead of the Victorian Government’s next Creative State which launches in 2025.

We would like to chat with creatives and collectives that consider themselves culturally diverse, people of colour, BIPOC or from a multicultural background. We are also hoping to chat with organisations working with culturally diverse creatives where possible. By hosting the conversations, we hope to reconnect and meet new creatives and communities with which we can meaningfully discuss the future.

We hope to provide a comfortable space for creatives to engage with us and each other during the conversations. We would also like to advocate for culturally diverse experiences to be considered in creation of the next Creative State and to demonstrate our commitment to culturally diverse artists.

What should I expect?

Each conversation will be relaxed and conversational, and will include 5-6 participants as well as members of the MAV team who will facilitate the conversations. Each conversation will run for 1.5 hours and is likely to include about 20 minutes of introductions so we can learn about each other and exchange information. We will provide food and drinks at the start of the chat, and aim to make sure everyone is comfortable.

We are aiming to create a comfortable, judgement-free space to hold discussions with minimum intervention from us. We recognise our communities as some of the most researched in the country, and therefore hope to provide a personal experience, connect with you, listen and also identify ways we might continue to connect beyond this conversation. We have outlined how we intend to remain accountable to principles such as deep listening with communities here on our RETROSPECTION page.

We are also aiming to create a space that is culturally considerate. 90% of the MAV team and Board identify as culturally diverse, and our researcher is also a person of colour.

Participants will be paid for their time:

  • As individuals (via cash voucher to the value of $150)

  • There is also a donation option for key organisations who work closely with culturally diverse creatives (5 participants)

Research

We are working with a researcher from Deakin University, Gilbert Caluya, to produce a report based on these conversations with some suggestions for the next Creative State. He is an experienced cultural researcher of minority groups and politics who has worked with community and arts organisations. The report will not identify any participants by name, but may include some key information about a participant’s demographic when relevant, such as your creative field or background.

Since we want the conversation to flow freely, we assure participants that if you say something you don’t want recorded/reported for whatever reason, just let us know during or after the discussion and we’ll ensure it is not included in the report. You will have the right to have anything you said in conversation removed in this manner up until the point of the report’s release (approx August 31, 2024).

Participation is entirely voluntary. If you choose to decline this invitation or choose to withdraw at any time during the process, there will be no negative repercussions.

Example Questions

It would be great if you could think about or bring along suggested topics for discussion in line with the provocations below:

  • What does a state that is truly creative look like in the foreseeable future (5 years)?

  • What are the steps to get there?

  • What are the challenges?

  • Where do you see yourself in a Creative State?

You can find the details of the Creative State 2025 guiding principles here (pages 22- 25) here.

What am I consenting to?

As a participant you are consenting to:

  • Information discussed in the MAV Conversation being selected for inclusion in the report for the next Creative State

  • An audio recording of the Conversation being made for this purpose (to be destroyed within 3 years).

Additionally you can opt in or out to:

  • Being photographed and/or filmed.

  • Being contacted by MAV in future

Questions or Complaints

You can submit queries about the research or flag anything you wish to remove from the record ahead of the report’s completion, by contacting researcher Gilbert Caluya via: gilbert.caluya@deakin.edu.au

Complaints

You CAN complain:

Directly to MAV via office@mav.org.au

Directly to MAV Acting CEO Lauren Mullings, via ceo@mav.org.au

You can also provide feedback direct to the Victorian Government outside these conversations:

All Victorians are invited to share their ideas through the online consultation by completing a short survey or making a submission via the Engage Victoria website.

Closes 11.59pm, Monday 26 August. https://engage.vic.gov.au/creative-state-consultation