Editing History of Australia (section)

===Arts and culture===
{{Main|Culture of Australia}}
[[File:Gorton Press Conference 1970 (5).jpg|thumb|left|[[John Gorton]] in 1970. As Prime Minister, Gorton revitalised government support for [[Australian cinema]]]]

The 1960s and 1970s saw increased government support for the arts and the flourishing of distinctively Australian artistic works. The [[Gorton government]] (1968–71) established the [[Australian Council for the Arts]], the Australian Film Development Corporation (AFDC) and the National Film and Television Training School.<ref>{{cite web|title=Primeministers.naa.gov.au|url=http://primeministers.naa.gov.au/primeministers/gorton/in-office.aspx|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110315145129/http://primeministers.naa.gov.au/primeministers/gorton/in-office.aspx|archive-date=15 March 2011|access-date=14 July 2011|publisher=Primeministers.naa.gov.au}}</ref> The Whitlam government (1972–75) established the Australia Council with funding to promote crafts, Aboriginal arts, literature, music, visual arts, theatre, film and television.<ref>Carter, David; [[Griffen-Foley, Bridget]] (2013). "Culture and media". ''The Cambridge History of Australia, volume 2''. p.255</ref>

In 1966, a television drama quota was introduced requiring broadcasters to show 30 minutes of locally produced drama each week. The police series ''Homicide'' (1964–67) became the highest rating program and the family drama ''[[Skippy the Bush Kangaroo]]'' became a local and international success. By 1969 eight of the twelve most popular television programs were Australian. With these successes, locally produced dramas became a staple of Australian television in the 1970s and 1980s. Notable examples include ''Rush'' (1973–76), ''[[The Sullivans]]'' (1976–83) and ''[[Neighbours]]'' (1985–present).<ref>{{Cite book|last1=Carter|first1=David|title=The Cambridge History of Australia, volume 2|last2=Griffen-Foley|first2=Bridget|year=2013|pages=253–54, 258|chapter=Culture and media}}</ref>

From the late 1960s a "new wave" of Australian theatre emerged, initially centred on small theatre groups such as the [[The Pram Factory|Pram Factory]], [[La Mama Theatre (Melbourne)|La Mama]] and the [[Australian Performing Group]] in Melbourne and the Jane Street Theatre and [[Nimrod Theatre Company]] in Sydney. Playwrights associated with the new wave included [[David Williamson]], [[Alex Buzo]], [[Jack Hibberd]] and [[John Romeril]]. Features of the new wave were the extensive use of Australian colloquial speech (including obscenities), the exploration of the Australian identity, and the critique of cultural myths. By the end of the 1970s new Australian plays were a feature of small and large theatre companies in most states.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Radic|first=Leonard|title=Contemporary Australian Drama|publisher=Brandl and Schlesinger|year=2006|isbn=1876040432|location=NSW|pages=12, 16–19, 34–64}}</ref>

[[File:Patrick White 1973.jpg|right|thumb|Patrick White: In 1973, became the first Australian to win a Nobel Prize in Literature]]

Support through the AFDC (from 1975 the Australian Film Commission) and state funding bodies, and generous tax concessions for investors introduced in 1981, led to a large increase in Australian produced films. Almost 400 were produced between 1970 and 1985. Notable films include ''[[The Adventures of Barry McKenzie]]'' (1972), ''[[Picnic at Hanging Rock (film)|Picnic at Hanging Rock]]'' (1975), ''[[My Brilliant Career]]'' (1979), ''[[Breaker Morant]]'' (1980), ''[[Gallipoli (1981 film)|Gallipoli]]'' (1981), the ''[[Mad Max (film)|Mad Max]]'' trilogy (1979–85) and ''[[Crocodile Dundee]]'' (1986).<ref>Carter, David; Griffen-Foley, Bridget (2013). "Culture and media". ''The Cambridge History of Australia, volume 2''. pp.257–58</ref>

In 1973, [[Patrick White]] became the first Australian to win a Nobel Prize for Literature.<ref>Geoffrey Bolton (1990) pp. 229–30</ref> While there were only around twenty Australian novels published in 1973, this had grown to around 300 in 1988.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Wallace-Crabbe|first=Chris|title=Beyond the Cringe: Australia's Cultural Overconfidence?|publisher=University of London|year=1990|isbn=1855070162|location=London|pages=10}}</ref> By 1985 more than 1,000 writers had received grants and more than 1,000 books had been subsidised by the Literature Board. Writers who published their first book between 1975 and 1985 include [[Peter Carey (novelist)|Peter Carey]], [[David Malouf]], [[Murray Bail]], [[Elizabeth Jolley]], [[Helen Garner]] and [[Tim Winton]].<ref name="Carter-2013">Carter, David; Griffen-Foley, Bridget (2013). p 256-57</ref>

There was also a growing recognition of Indigenous cultural movements. In the early 1970s Aboriginal elders at [[Papunya Tula|Papunya]] began using acrylic paints to make "dot" paintings based on the traditional Honey Ant Dreaming. Indigenous artists from other regions also developed distinctive styles based on a fusion of modern art materials and traditional stories and iconography.<ref name="Carter-2013" /> Indigenous writers such as [[Oodgeroo Noonuccal]] (Kath Walker), [[Jack Davis (playwright)|Jack Davis]] and [[Kevin Gilbert (author)|Kevin Gilbert]] produced significant work in the 1970s and 1980s. A [[Black Theatre (Sydney)|National Black Theatre]] was established in Sydney in the early 1970s. The Aboriginal Islander Dance Theatre was established in 1976 and the [[Bangarra Dance Theatre]] in 1989. In 1991, the rock band [[Yothu Yindi]], which drew on traditional Aboriginal music and dance, achieved commercial and critical success.<ref>Broome, Richard (2019). pp. 248–52, 280</ref>

In music, ABC television's popular music show ''Countdown'' (1974–87) helped promote Australian music while radio station 2JJ (later JJJ) in Sydney promoted live performances and recordings by Australian independent artists and record labels.<ref>Carter, David; Griffen-Foley, Bridget (2013). p 254-60</ref>

Carter and Griffen-Foley state that by the end of the 1970s: "There was a widely shared sense of Australian culture as independent, no longer troubled by its relationship with Britain."<ref name="Carter-2013" /> However, by 1990 commentators as diverse as [[Padraic McGuinness|P. P. McGuiness]] and [[Geoffrey Serle]] were complaining that the large increase in artistic works had led to the celebration of mediocrity. Poet [[Chris Wallace-Crabbe]] questioned whether Australia had overcome its former "[[cultural cringe]]" only to fall into cultural overconfidence.<ref>Wallace-Crabbe, Chris (1990). ''Beyond the Cringe: Australia's Cultural Overconfidence?'' pp. 12–13</ref>

In the new millennium, the globalisation of the Australian economy and society, and developments in jet travel and the internet have largely overcome the "[[The Tyranny of Distance: How Distance Shaped Australia's History|tyranny of distance]]" which had influenced Australian arts and culture. Overseas cultural works could be more readily accessed in person or virtually. Australian performers such as the [[The Australian Ballet|Australian Ballet]] and [[Australian Chamber Orchestra]] frequently toured abroad. The growing number of international art exhibitions, such as [[Art Basel Hong Kong]] and the Queensland Art Gallery's [[Asia Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art|Asia-Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art]], have increased the exposure of Australian art in the region and the wider global market.<ref name="Rickard-2017">{{Cite book|last=Rickard|first=John|title=Australia, a cultural history|publisher=Monash University Publishing|year=2017|isbn=9781921867606|edition=Third|location=Melbourne|pages=268–69}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|last=O'Sullivan|first=Jane|date=25 February 2016|title=Why Australian artists find it so hard to get international recognition|url=https://www.afr.com/life-and-luxury/why-australian-artists-find-it-so-hard-to-get-international-recognition-20160112-gm49r3|access-date=3 May 2021|website=Australian Financial Review}}</ref>

In film, the number of Australian productions averaged 14 per year in the 1970s but grew to 31 per year in the 2000s and 37 per year in the 2010s.<ref>{{Cite web|date=December 2020|title=Australian Feature Film Production Activity|url=https://www.screenaustralia.gov.au/fact-finders/production-trends/feature-production/australian-feature-films|url-status=dead|access-date=3 May 2021|website=Screen Australia|archive-date=7 May 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210507124438/https://www.screenaustralia.gov.au/fact-finders/production-trends/feature-production/australian-feature-films}}</ref> A number of Australian directors and actors, including [[Baz Luhrmann]], [[George Miller (filmmaker)|George Miller]], [[Peter Weir]], [[Cate Blanchett]], [[Nicole Kidman]], [[Geoffrey Rush]] and others, have been able to establish careers both in Australia and abroad. The technical expertise developed in the Australian industry, and the increasing number of internationally successful Australian directors and actors, encouraged foreign producers to make more films in Australia.<ref name="Rickard-2017" /> Major international productions made in Australia in the past decade include ''[[Mad Max: Fury Road]]'' and ''[[The Great Gatsby (2013 film)|The Great Gatsby]]''.

Carter and Griffen-Follet conclude: "Australia is no longer a Dominion or client state within a closed imperial market, but a medium-sized player, exporter as well as importer, within globalised cultural industries and markets."<ref>Carter, David; Griffen-Foley, Bridget (2013). p 261</ref>