MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA.- A new Australia Business Arts Foundation (AbaF) publication, The Gold Book of Business Arts Partnerships 2003, was launched in Melbourne today by the Minister for the Arts and Sport, Senator Rod Kemp.
’The Gold Book is full of case studies of partnerships that are helping individual Australians and building stronger Australian communities,’ Senator Kemp said.
Partnerships featured in The Gold Book include: BHP Billiton’s partnership with the Australian Festival of Chamber Music, which takes fine music to new audiences in remote communities across Queensland; Telstra’s support of the National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art Award, which is encouraging a new generation of Indigenous artists.
’These stories show how business support for the arts is contributing to the health, wellbeing and stability of communities, as well as economic development,’ Senator Kemp said.
The Gold Book features all the Winners and Finalists of the 2003 AbaF Awards, including: Sun Microsystems and Musica Viva, Winners of the Business Arts Partnership of the Year; Janet Holmes a Court, the Richard Pratt Business Leader of the Year; John Bell, the Dame Elisabeth Murdoch Cultural Leader of the Year.
All Australian states and territories and a diversity of industry sectors and artforms are represented.
Sponsored by Australia Post, the 80-page colour book showcases 27 partnerships, ranging from the long-established-such as the Perth International Arts Festival and the University of Western Australia, which has lasted 50 years-to the very new, such as Circus Oz and The Empower Group, established only in 2003, which won the Scotchmans Hill Encouragement Award at the 2003 AbaF Awards.