OzAsia Festival to end after 20 years, in a huge blow for Asian-Australian art and culture
OzAsia is more than a festival, and its loss will be felt at a time when Asian-Australians need inclusion more than ever.
The 20-year-old OzAsia Festival, Adelaide's celebrated "festival city", will end in 2026. Since its inception in 2007, the festival has showcased Asian and Asian-Australian art, literature, music and public debate. The Adelaide Festival Centre, its presenter, plans to introduce year-round Asian programming, while maintaining the annual Lucky Dumpling Market.
This move raises questions about the importance of cultural festivals and the impact of their disappearance. Liminality, the temporary interruption of everyday life, fosters a sense of connection among festival-goers. Festivals like OzAsia, focused on Asian and Asian-Australian culture, are particularly significant given the renewed social division around migration and the documented rise in anti-Asian racism and anti-immigration sentiments.
Culturally and linguistically diverse Australians are severely underrepresented in leadership positions in cultural organizations. A 2019 report found they make up only 9% of 1,980 leaders across 200 major cultural organizations. Similarly, Creative Australia found only 3% of artists surveyed in 2023 were born in Asian countries.
The loss of OzAsia's leadership could result in a loss of authority to decide on programming, funding and strategic decisions. While the festival benefits Asian communities, it also offers non-Asian Australians a platform to engage with Asian stories and artistic practices. However, reducing the festival to the Lucky Dumpling Market could overlook the complexity of the Asian-Australian experience.
South Australia has built its cultural identity around festivals, but the Adelaide Festival Centre has recently removed two longstanding events. As a "festival capital" and a UNESCO City of Music, Adelaide's cultural policy emphasizes festivals as "cultural infrastructure". The disappearance of these platforms could affect how these policy ambitions are met.
Written by urgent.news from The Conversation AU's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
