A Sydney-Based Theatre Collective Is Broadcasting A Live Telethon Right Now, To Raise ‘Excellence’ For The Australian Arts Sector
The idea is to show Arts Minister George Brandis how his arts budget cuts affect small creative communities. Donate as much excellence as you can afford!
Sydney-based theatre collective Applespiel have teamed up with the PACT Centre for Emerging Artists to protest recent budget cuts to the Australia Council — Australia’s independent funding body for the arts — in the most creative way possible.
For 24 hours, starting from 6pm last night, the gang will be performing a non-stop telethon. But instead of asking for financial donations, they are asking for “pledges of excellence”.
Named for Brandis’ new Government-run National Programme For Excellence in the Arts, to which he diverted $104.7 million worth of Australia Council funding in the most recent budget, In Pursuit of Excellence: A Telethon For Excellence is being streamed live from the theatre right now, and features comedians, musicians, performers and artists from just about every field.
“This tongue-in-cheek fundraiser will stream online as audiences make ‘pledges’ of excellence to show their support of the arts in Australia,” they explain on the site. “As we fight sleep to get through a whole 24 hours of telethoning, we hope you can join us as collaborative audience members to help us reach our target of 104 MILLION EXCELLENCES!”
The idea is to show Arts Minister George Brandis how these budget cuts affect small creative communities – also, it’s pretty fun. You can donate as much excellence as you can afford here, and tweet at Applespiel here with the hashtag #freethearts.