The Department welcomes the strong representation of its cultural diplomacy programs among the finalists and winners of the Australian Arts in Asia Awards that were announced in Sydney last night by Arts Minister Tony Burke.
The awards recognise the contribution Australian artists and arts organisations make to strengthening ties with Asia. The Department has a strong record over a long period of time of promoting cultural and artistic collaboration in Asia.
Thirty of the Awards finalists were participants in Oz Fest, the largest Australian cultural festival ever staged in India that was held from October 2012-February 2013.
The highly successful Oz Fest program showcased Australian creativity through 159 events in 18 Indian cities, including music, art, food, films, literature, dance, comedy and sport.
Prominent Oz Fest alumni that were recipients of Australian Arts in Asia Awards included
The Bookwallah 2012 (Asialink), People's Puppet Project workshop (Snuff Puppets) and PLACE-Hampi (Museum Victoria).
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Oz Fest was delivered under the auspices of the Australia International Cultural Council (AICC) with the support of 24 government, business, institutional and production partners.
The AICC is the Government's principal cultural diplomacy body and is administered by DFAT.
From January-April 2014, the AICC will present Oz Fest Indonesia 2014, a major Australian cultural festival across the Indonesian archipelago. Program details will be announced later this year.