The ABC’s latest arts show, The Art Of...
, feels different to previous arts offerings from the national broadcaster. For a start, there are no studio interviews. Instead, the producers asked artists about their daily rituals and worked it back from there, to work out the most interesting locations in which to shoot.
The program comes after successive cuts to arts funding at the ABC and concerns about how the broadcaster would meet its charter requirements, which specify the arts as a key component of its coverage. Redundancies last year meant two senior managers of the arts department left the organisation, resulting in no senior dedicated specialists in the area; onscreen arts content was folded into a newly created Arts, Music and Events department. Namila Benson and two actors playing a couple during the rehearsals for an intimate scene.
Credit: ABC In April, the ABC launched Virginia Trioli’s six-episode Creative Types , in which artists including Trent Dalton and Patricia Piccinini are interviewed about their work; a second series has been confirmed. According to ratings agency OzTAM, Creative Types drew an average of 452,000 viewers nationally, including on catch-up across seven days, for its May 7 penultimate episode. The Art Of.
.. , which airs on Tuesday, puts the human condition and human experience centre stage, says host Namila Benson, as that’s the stuff we can all relate to.
“Whether it’s the art of grief, the art of rage or the art of feminism, all of.
