MAV is taking a bold step into the future with a new look and new strategic plan (or scroll down).

Our new branding honours our origins as a dedicated multicultural arts organisation, fighting for cultural rights and the visibility of diverse artists and creatives. The decision of the Board to reflect a new era through a brand refresh propels us forward as a cultural organisation.

Our strategic plan begins with an ambitious vision for the creative sector:

ARTS AS DIVERSE AS OUR PEOPLE

Never before has it been more important for artists from culturally diverse backgrounds to tell their stories. The impetus for MAV’s new vision is the real and terrifying threats to our pluralistic, multicultural society from the forces of bigotry and intolerance.

Over the next four years, we will channel the artistic practices of culturally diverse artists and communities to create systems of cultural production and participation that champion equity and self-determination. Through a process of deep engagement with diverse creatives, partners and collaborators, we have identified new approaches to our work that reflect our commitment to the following values:

Diversity – we will privilege non-western ways of doing, knowing and being, to tell stories that illuminate our humanity and improve intercultural understanding;

Equality – we will strive for cultural democracy, sharing our knowledge and skills with partners across the arts and cultural sector to build platforms for engagement and visibility;

Trust – diverse communities will see themselves represented in and by us, in work that resonates with their truths, underpinned by shared values and dreams of new futures; and

Courage – we will be outspoken in our support of cultural participation as a human right, from which we derive social, cultural and economic benefits for the development of individuals and society.

The focus of our endeavours is to generate transformation in the sector thorough these key priorities:

• To champion the development of artists and artform practices that speak to who we are as Australians, embedding pluralism and diversity as a fount of artistic and cultural innovation;
• To build the case for diversity as one of our greatest cultural assets, through the generation of critical and compelling new work; and
• To lead transformation in our sector, contesting the marginality of diverse artistic practices through the application of contemporary lenses and frameworks

We are determined that MAV will be a catalyst for change within the arts sector, mobilising an engaged, intellectual and creative community of culturally diverse artists to present multi-disciplinary work that speaks to who we are as Australians.

MAV will underpin the development of artists, artform practices and platforms that interrogate and future-proof our identity as a sophisticated, multicultural society.

With artists from refugee, newly-arrived migrant communities and the foundation communities of our multicultural society, we will present a unique, annual program of work where contemporary arts practice is challenged and transformed by deep engagement with artists and cultural practices from across the globe. Migration shapes our colonial past and present in conflicting ways, a reality that successive multicultural policies and narratives have not always grappled with directly. Our artmaking will embrace these complexities, by fostering connections with First Nations’ artists, with whom we have a long history of collaboration, to build new dialogues and pathways to belonging.

We are seeking to redefine our multi-disciplinary artistic practice to enable dynamic, new artform development, through the application of contemporary lenses and constructs, such as interculturalism, intersectionality and intergenerationality. These are more than just labels; they are a framework for artistic innovation and regeneration, with culturally diverse artists at its heart. In reframing our vision, we will respond to calls from culturally diverse artists for leadership in the sector, and for cultural equity.

Through stakeholder consultations, we have heard loud and clear that the pace of change is glacial, and that courage is needed to call out systemic barriers to representation and participation which are founded in prejudice and inaction. Our vision of leadership encompasses new pathways, partnerships and platforms, aimed at addressing the structural disadvantage experienced by culturally diverse artists and building the creative case for diversity in the arts.

We invite you to join us in this journey.

The MAV team