More than bums on seats: Australian participation in the arts

• Australia Council

Full_report_More_than_bums_on_seats_Australian_participation_in_the_arts

Image: yewenyi / flickr

03 March 2010This research identifies the key factors which will impact Australians’ future participation in the arts. It also identifies barriers and incentives which impact our participation.

Summary of results - download summary PDF

We found levels of engagement with the arts were high. In the year leading up to the research nine in ten Australians aged 15 and older had creatively participated in the arts (by making something themselves), or receptively participated (by attending a live event, an exhibition or reading literature). Australians are more likely to take in someone else’s art than to create it themselves: nine in ten claimed to have receptively

• participated in at least one art form.
• four in ten had creatively participated in the arts.
• only a small group (7%) were not engaged with the arts in the past 12 months.

The key findings for each of the main art forms are:

Literature is the most popular art form, with 84% reading – mostly novels though one in five read poetry. Creative writing was also popular with 16% engaged, 7% writing a novel or short story and 5% writing poetry.

Nearly all Australians intentionally listened to recorded music and over half attended live performances. Most went to watch live music such as pop, rock, country and dance. Musical theatre/cabaret was the second most popular form of music  attendance at 22%, followed by classical music (13%), and opera (8%). Making music was also popular (15%) with one in ten playing an instrument and 5% singing.

More people created visual arts and crafts (22%) than any other form of art. Nearly one in ten engaged in crafts (like ceramics, jewellery making, sewing, woodcraft) (9%), photography (9%), or painting (8%).

Theatre was attended by one in four (26%) with most going to traditional or contemporary theatre (19%), followed by circus or physical theatre (10%).

Dance was attended by 16%, with most going to ballet or classical dance (10%), followed by social dance like ballroom or street (5%) and contemporary (5%).

Indigenous arts

Of the three quarters of people who had attended visual arts and crafts, theatre, dance or music in the past 12 months, nearly a quarter (23%) had been to arts created or performed by Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander artists. Attitudes to Indigenous arts are increasingly positive, indicating a great opportunity to grow the Indigenous art audience across Australia.

Various fact sheets are also available from the report website.

Image: yewenyi / flickr