For the first time, the Australia Council’s 2017 Report Connecting Australians | Results of the National Arts Participation Survey asked people about engagement with the arts as a way of connecting with their cultural background. This landmark change turned up some fascinating findings from CALD respondents:
- 52% engaged with the arts of their cultural background in 2016
- 80% attended arts overall
- 2% engaged exclusively with the arts of their own cultural background
- 39% of males engage with the arts of their cultural background (and 50% of 15-34 year old males)
- 31% of females engage with the arts of their cultural background (and 34% of 15-34 year old females)
Find this report and more resources and research on diverse arts on the Resources section of our website.
Arts participation as a facet of own-culture connection is a breakthrough question in the 2016 participation survey. The CALD community behaviour demonstrates significant cross cultural arts participation and this can only be a positive indicator for both social cohesion and intercultural empathy.