13 February 2025
Expanding the Canon: Establishing Confidence in a Culturally Fractured Australia by Elena Wittkuhn
Written by Elena Wittkuhn, February 2025
The arts and cultural sectors are fraught with problems currently, particularly in relation
to access and First Nations representation on the classical music stage. We are having
a cultural crisis, comprised of wanting to have more reconciliation and increased
visibility of marginalised groups, versus ‘cultural cringe’, dealing with racist backlash,
potential alienation of audiences, and other negative effects of thoughtless
representational programming.
There could have been no better guest speaker to help us address these important
issues than Deborah Cheetham OAM. For much of her multifaceted career, Deborah
has been using her platform as an Yorta-Yorta-Yuan soprano to advocate for Indigenous
artists and advise the arts and cultural sectors on these very issues.
The solution she suggests? Cultural confidence. The paths to get there, though, are no
way as straightforward – not least of all because it’s a personal, individual journey we all
must take, as well as a task for the wider arts sector and national government.
Australia has been home of the term “Cultural Cringe” since 1950, when writer AA
Phillips first coined the term, referring to the sense of inferiority that Australians feel
when comparing their art to those from Western Europe. But Australia has actually had
a much longer history of cultural cringe, and continues to have a multilayered
experience of it. If the problematic ‘logic’ of post-colonial Australia’s experience of
cultural cringe is to discredit its own art, artistic practises and tastes in favour of
European ones, then this discreditation digs even deeper for Australians with mixed
non-Caucasian heritage (based on 2020 statistics, only 1% of works performed were by
Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Australian (CALD) composers)
— and deeper still for Indigenous art practises.
Drawing from the discussion with Deborah Cheetham, this reflection will explore the
challenges faced by Indigenous Australian artists and how the systemic and social
racism underpinning these problems is a symptom of a wider cultural cringe that hyper-esteems European standards and underserves all Australians. My reflection will detail some statistics taken by cultural surveys and finish with some suggested solutions towards establishing cultural confidence in Australia, on a governmental, arts sector and individual level. These topics are infinitely more complex than what can be explored within these pages and as a non-Indigenous Australian I make no claim of correctness
in any of my ideas. However, I hope that my engagement with these topics can encourage more questioning as an active, ongoing commitment towards reconciliation, with First Nations peoples at the helm at heart of every discussion.
It is one of the most debilitating outcomes of colonialism that First Nations artists and
artistic practices have been pushed to the artistic margins of Australia. With an
estimated 250 Indigenous Nations and multiple cultural-linguistic groups within each of
these, this is an unimaginable loss to our arts and cultural practice. Today, while there
may be arguably less acceptance of overt racism, it still lies at the foundation of our
classical music model in Australia through the ‘standard modelling’ of the Western
canon; and exercises itself more covertly through a silent dismissal that can go
unchecked if our society does not resolve itself to more radically seek out, program and
champion Indigenous artists and works.
Thankfully, we are slowly seeing positive changes to these attitudes, with more of a
push toward thoughtful, representative programming, and artistic choices that build
towards reconciliation. But there is still so much further to go.
A 2020 roundtable study conducted by the Australia Council for the Arts entitled
“Survey of First Nations Music Artists” collected responses from 87 Indigenous
musicians.
It should be duly noted that of these 87 respondents, only 2% identified as “classical”
musicians. Respondents listed an average of 3.6 musical genres in their practice,
demonstrating the creative range of Indigenous artists. This implies that our
conversation must a) go beyond Indigenous classical practice, embracing all
Indigenous artists’ genres, and b) that out of all genres, classical music has the lowest
representation of Indigenous artists.
It should also be noted that the survey only meagrely represents Indigenous Australian
artists – with only 87 respondents within a population of over 800,000 Indigenous
people in Australia. Moreover it is unknown how many of this number identify as
musicians professionally or otherwise – especially when taking into account the fact
that most First Nations language groups have music deeply rooted in their cultural
practices.
The three largest obstacles cited were lack of financial return (73%), lack of time (56%)
and difficulty with grant applications (55%), followed closely by lack of power in
decision-making roles (53%). First Nations musicians aged 25-34 cited the most
number of challenges, being consistent with the idea that young musicians, Indigenous
or not, require the most support in their careers.
Other highly-cited responses, such as the need for training, networking and job
opportunities and the aforementioned issues, all revolve around the crucial concept of
the need for recognition by the wider music industry. One responder said: “it’s
important for established artists to support and uplift upcoming Indigenous artists”,
with another saying “I feel the wider industry has to give up space and give up power”.
All of these challenges contribute to a paucity of representation — in 2020, Diversity Arts
calculated that out of 915 works performed on classical mainstages in the country, only
12 were written by a First Nations composer. This is in spite of the fact that, according
to a 2020 study by Creative Australia, “One in four First Nations respondents create
music (27% compared to 16% of non-First Nations respondents)”.
This lack of representation also leads to higher pressures on Indigenous artists to be a
representative not only for themselves, nor even for their own families or cultures but for
the entirety of First Nations Peoples at large. This is hugely problematic given the
incredible diversity of Indigenous Australians; the cultural and artistic styles and
practices of one Nation’s language group can never be presumed to represent another.
One respondent to the Australia Council survey summarised this point with their
response: “[there is a need to stop] necessarily treating all First Nations performers as a
single ‘genre’ as we have all different types of genres that we do.” An example of this
overgeneralisation and pressure discussed in our Zoom conversation might also be
found in Deborah’s invitation to “to compose the music that would be the welcome to
country for the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games.” Deborah explained that “not being
Gadigal, [she] couldn’t welcome anybody to that country” (but could perform an
Acknowledgement of Country instead). Later in the conversation, Deborah spoke about
what alternative practices would be better for Indigenous artists, answering that the
solutions lie in – unlike in this example – “not having people from those organized
organizations rely on me to give them all the answers.”
Moreover, it should never be presumed that all Indigenous artists would want to create
something representative of their culture. The notion that art can come from an
individual’s own sense of self, independent of cultural identity and storytelling, is taken
for granted by artists from non-marginalised groups, and is often not afforded in the
same way to artists who are expected to be a symbol of their marginalised backgrounds.
Inordinate pressure on Indigenous artists to be a voice for all Indigenous Australians not
only reinforces ignorant generalisations, but also allows, in the words of a survey
respondent, “the box ticking mentality which leads to less opportunities for other
Indigenous artists”. Not only harmful to artists, this “box-ticking” approach also hugely
compromises on integrity of institutions. When meeting inclusion quotas is the aim,
arts organisations might be allowed to engage less deeply with their programming
choices, hurting the potential of meaningful, genuine and sustainable* relationships
with First Nations artists.
“The pressures that come to bear
Deborah Cheetham Fraillon AO
on these big organisations [….] moves in counterpoint and not in a good way to the kind
of essential way of knowing and being that Indigenous people embrace through music”.
My opinion is that if there simply aren’t enough performed, then audiences will more
likely associate even the thought of an Indigenous composition with the last one that
they experienced, further reinforcing ideas that Indigenous classical works are similar to
each other. In the next few sections I will list a few suggestions on how to combat and
prevent this premature judgement on Indigenous works.
The Responsibility of Arts Organisations to Better Understand their Changing Audiences
Is it really a lack of demand from audiences that is the problem? What if audiences are
more open-minded than they (we!) are given credit for? Is it not more the responsibility
of arts organisations to prioritise and present Indigenous works to the public?
“First Nations arts and culture are more commonly attended by people under 65 (66%)
than other artforms (64%). Attendance decreases with age, with 32% of 65 to 74-year
old’s attending, and 23% of people 75 and older attending.”
This can be compared to the inverse trend in audience ages for Western classical concerts – “younger
populations (18–33 years) demonstrated much lower rates of attendance at classical
concerts (27%) than older populations aged 34+ years (68%)”. While this trend is changing
, there is still difference enough between the two audience demographics to
suggest that younger audiences are more likely to engage with Indigenous arts,highlighting both the need to broaden audience engagement, as well as the potentially
positive implication that First Nations art may be in a healthier position to be received
with open-minded approaches, compared to Western European art. However, relying on this hope based on audience ages is not a sustainable long-term solution, especially as
youth does not necessarily entail open-mindedness.
Suggestions for Practical Solutions
I believe that we need to be more creative and resourceful with our programming so that
Indigenous artists can enjoy mainstage visibility, not just as one-off events, but
championed in concerts in ways that uplift Indigenous artists now, and for generations
to come. Expecting audiences to only love what they know and expect, is where we may
be going wrong.
With more frequent and consistent programming, we can ultimately offer audiences
more opportunities to experience, and new ways to think about Indigenous classical
music, challenging pre-conceptions and opening up new artistic possibilities.
Marketing with a New Approach – Allowing instead of Anticipating Audience Reactions
One of the biggest factors in helping to prime and shape audience expectations and
responses, lies in marketing and program order. Just as a respondent to the Australia
Arts survey claimed that “it’s not enough to have black stages at festivals, our artists are
good enough to be on the main stage”, it is also not enough for Indigenous compositions
to take up minimal space in classical concert programs. Consideration of a pairing
piece, or accompanying works, is of critical importance here. Whatever works are
highlighted in visual marketing such as through posters, websites and concert
brochures will likely prime audiences to focus on and value those works over others in
the program. This poses a dilemma for the sustainability versus progression of the arts,
as arts organisations need to ensure they will attract enough of a paying audience in
order for these works to be performed in the first place, and thus often feel the need to
foreground more well-recognised, established works, all too often Western European
canon works. However, new research suggests that this may be an outdated marketing
strategy, as audiences may be more open-minded to hearing new, undiscovered works –
and particularly have an interest in hearing from First Nations artists and composers.
After all, according to the most recent (2023) National Arts Participation Survey
conducted by Creative Australia, “73% believe that First Nations arts and culture are an
important part of Australia’s culture”.
Program order can also significantly impact the reception of a work. Many orchestras
have been adopting the decision to program short premieres as the first item, which
often set an impressively bold tone for the organisation. However, these pieces may lose to recency bias and be eclipsed by more familiar works in the latter half (especially
if this has been the marketing focus). Conversely, programming an unexpected work in
the second half can be risky as well – how many concerts can you recall recently where
half the audience left at interval, after hearing the work they were primed to anticipate
by its’ pre-existing fame and the marketing spotlight it consequently received?
Positive Examples of Indigenous Partnerships and Platforming
My question for Deborah was “what are the signs of a good relationship between
Indigenous artists and non-Indigenous arts organisations?” Coming back to the idea of
not putting inordinate pressure on artists, Deborah responded that the best working
dynamics can be achieved when Indigenous artists are empowered to approach larger
arts organisations on their own terms. “It looks like governments actually funding
properly funding Indigenous organisations so that they [Indigenous artists and
organisations] can approach [other] organisations and say ‘hey, I’ve got this project. This
is what I’d like to say as an Indigenous person, rather than organisations being told
‘you’ve got til [a certain short amount of time] to apply for this and then you can wait 12
weeks and you might get the funding or not”.
In my own performance journey I have been privileged to encounter and be a part of
productions where I felt that Indigenous artists and composers were foregrounded in a
truly respectful, impactful way. In the positive examples I have seen, First Nations
artists were not only involved, but leading productions; they were asked for permission
when performed outside of the agreed performance, and featured heavily in programs
not just through the performance of their work(s) but in the production and marketing of
the events.
In 2021, Koolbardi Wer Wardong by Gina Williams and Guy Ghouse was produced and
staged with the West Australian Opera, as the world’s first opera written and performed
entirely in Noongar language, telling the traditional Noongar origin story of the Koolbardi
(magpie) and wardong (crow). Led by Williams and Ghouse at the helm, this production
seemed to follow one survey respondent’s suggested model, whereby First Nations
artists can “lead [their] projects and not be dictated to! We must not be tokenism black
artist for a white organisation to gain funding. We must be the leading organisation or
artist when it comes to black funding and partnerships!!”
One of my other best loved musical memories was of playing in a 2020 West Australian
Youth Orchestra program entitled “Spirit”, featuring the state premiere of Yuwani – a
traditional song from Numbulwar, Northern Territory, which was orchestrated through a
sensitive collaboration between Numbulwar singer-custodian of the song, Don
Nunggarrgalu, and Perth composer Lachlan Skipworth. Highlighting the respect that Skipworth (and other co-collaborators and concert producers) had towards the Yuwani
song, Nunggarrgalu and his community, Skipworth said “my instinct [was] to leave the
piece as it is. I want[ed] to allow Don to sing it how he’s always sung it.” Here was the event ‘blurb’ posted on the website:
Be inspired by the spirit and sounds of Australia with guest artist Don
Nunggarrgalu from the Northern Territory indigenous band ‘Mambali’ in the WA
premiere of their orchestrated hit Numbulwar song, ‘Yuwani’. The concert will
also feature a gigantic 120-piece orchestra in Gustav Mahler’s powerful and
emotionally charged Symphony No. 6.
I felt this was a great description which not only accurately described what would be
played, but platformed the premiere work more strongly than Mahler’s – mainly through
describing it first. As the Mahler symphony was bound to receive attention and
attendance even with minimal marketing, the spotlight – at least of primary mentioning –
was instead shone on the new work. Furthermore, the cover art reflected this focus
well, featuring a backdrop of Northern Territory sands, sea and landscape, painting
elements of Country from which the Yuwani song, and its custodian, Don, had
originated.
Establishing Cultural Confidence
The crux of our conversation with Deborah was the concept of the need to establish
stronger ‘cultural confidence’, in order to better move forward, as a healing process
for the country but also for all Australians as individuals.
As I gathered from Cheetham’s explanations, cultural confidence is essentially the state
of feeling secure in one’s cultural identity. This is particularly important to allow the
fullest realisation of one’s artistic potential, because so often our creative practice is
linked to, or stems from, our cultural identities. Deborah explained that cultural
confidence can be a slow, complex, even triggering process, that is deeply personal and
unique to each individual’s cultural make-up and situation.
She explained that cultural confidence is the understanding that can be sought through
first gaining cultural competence. As Cheetham explained, “knowing isn’t enough [….]
going from knowing something to understanding something is the critical point.”
“As musicians, it’s our duty of care to our profession to become as culturally confident as we possibly can and bring our unique voice as Australians, as citizens of this
Deborah Cheetham Fraillon AO
continent”
One of the biggest barriers to us even breaking past the first step of cultural
competence, is in the overwhelming presence of the Western canon; as Cheetham
summarised: “How can we become culturally competent if we are only ever measuring
ourselves against somebody else’s idea of a period of time and, and, and humanity?”
Stacking one’s own cultural, and indeed, personal, worth, against the Western canon
can be debilitating for our sense of potential, self-determination, and worthiness in
finding one’s true, representative artistic voice – especially for those with mixed or
unclear cultural lineage. A survey by Creative Australia found that “two in five First
Nations respondents and one in three CALD respondents report that ‘cultural and
creative experiences are not really for people like me’ (39% of First Nations respondents
compared to 27% of non-First Nations respondents).12 What should be the wake-up call
to even the most conservative of Australians, is the realisation that this affects them
too. As First Nations were the very first peoples of this country for tens of thousands of
years – all non-Indigenous Australians come from a line of migrants, and may be more
culturally and ethnically diverse than they realise.
Embracing Traditions and Building A New, Inclusive Canon – Normalisation and
Celebration
One of the most interesting lessons from Deborah’s conversation was her advocation of
the Western canon (“embrace the Western canon!”). As an emerging cellist torn
between a love of classical music and a growing intolerance of the industry’s
Eurocentrism – this was a relief for me! I expect it would be a relief to many arts
organisations and orchestras too – the realisation that we don’t need to totally alienate
Western canonical works (and their loyal audiences) is game-changing. Rather, we need
to find ways to genuinely champion and integrate Indigenous art onto mainstage
concerts with equal respect, and present them alongside other works, as a celebration
of a diverse continent that continues to practice the oldest continuing cultures on the
planet.
With more frequent, foregrounded and integrated programming of Indigenous and non-European works, we can get closer to normalising them. Should this be our new goal –
to normalise the presence of Indigenous classical works in Australian concert halls? An
Australia Council respondent said “[First Nations’ art and culture] needs to be an embedded normality within every part of our culture”. Normalisation takes longer than
mere inclusion, so the process has hopefully already made its slow start.
Understanding the magnitude of this task, Deborah claimed that governments need to
have more of an active role in strengthening the country’s cultural confidence. “We
need a society that forces their governments to do better at helping people understand
the beginnings of our shared history so that we can start to build that cultural
confidence.”
Cultural Confidence – A Personal Journey
The commitment to knowing, then understanding, is a task, and indeed, privilege, for all
of us. Linking one’s personal history to that of Indigenous Australia may help to give
important context for each of our lives here on Country and newly understand our
connections to our living spaces, geography and relationships as things all made
possible by the care and custodianship of the First Nations peoples of the land on
which we now live.
Some examples in my own life include a deeper appreciation for the beautiful
landscape of Whadjuk Boodja, particularly the Derbal Yerrigan (Swan River) and Kaarta
Koomba (Kings Park). Not only do I admire how their beauty has thrived through the care
and custodianship of the Noongar people, but I can also appreciate them as specific
key sites of the Waugal’s (rainbow serpent’s) Dreamtime story, providing even more
interest and fascination with the natural world I am privileged to be surrounded by.
Tracing one’s own personal ancestral timelines with that of the Indigenous Peoples of
one’s home country may also help to reconcile the cognitive difference in our
understandings of history, and potentially even find common, or dissimilar ground
which we can use to inform our artistic practices.
Conclusion
While there are slow and steady gains to Indigenous music representation, there
remains a staggering amount of work still to be done, in order to more fully embrace,
champion, and normalise the inclusion of First Nations artists in Australia. Aside from
practical strategies that may be considered by orchestras and other arts organisations
in regards to funding, programming and marketing, the journey towards cultural
confidence is an even greater endeavour that we all can, and should, strive towards.
Cultural confidence is not the ‘finished’ accomplishment of complete knowledge of
one’s history as much as it is an active state of interest and positive esteem for one’s
culture and existence within that (or these, if emerging from multiple cultures). It is
sought after through firstly acquiring knowledge about one’s culture, surrounding
cultures and histories (cultural competence), and overcoming internalised racism or other types of discrimination that may be preventing an individual from embracing their
cultural identity.
Working towards a culturally confident Australia can help to heal the fractured
relationships between First Nations and colonial Australia, but this push to rediscover
Australia’s indigenous history can also have a flow-on effect to push us all to rediscover
our own personal cultural histories. Both quests are in the spirit of openness, seeking
truth, confronting one’s past and empowering people to make decisions about how to
deal with their fractured identities. Hopefully, a culturally confident Australia can
answer its issues in the cultural sector by putting marginalised voices onto the main
stage, especially those of First Nations – and rather than alienating the canon, seeking
to radically expand it with cultural truth and authenticity that more fairly and accurately
represents the diverse peoples of Australia.
By Elena Wittkuhn