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This Is Not Art has recently received some sobering news about funding for this year’s festival. Read on for the official press release, as published on the Octapod’s blog.

According to Festival Coordinator Eliza Adam, TINA has been notified that its current triennial funding would not be renewed.  This means with just 12 weeks until the annual arts festival is scheduled to kick-off the TINA operational budget is $18,000 short of its financial need.

“Without this money there is a very real threat to the festival.  If we can’t find funding within the next 2 weeks to we will have to make some very hard decisions,” said Adam.

The TINA festival, held annually in Newcastle since 1998, was established to support the development of contemporary arts practice on a local and national level.

The high profile event attracts over 5,000 participants and artists from all over the country and overseas and generates over $1.5 million for the local economy.

“This threat to the festival will result in financial loss for local business and a drop in cultural tourism.  We have had many local businesses expressing concern that this will impact upon their annual income “said Adam.

Each year the festival which, presents a diverse program of over 250 free events across the five-day festival, showcases the work of over 400 national and local artists, presenting a program of discussion panels, theatre performances, research forums, hands on workshops and visual art exhibitions and installations.

Writers, arts workers, media makers, thespians, musicians, physical performers, sound artists and visual artists travel from across Australia and overseas, to showcase their work, network, collaborate and develop new skills.

Adam claims the loss of funding will affect the entire festival, and will directly impact its production values.

“It’s challenging to say the least, to present a festival which involves theatrical and musical performances without lighting, staging or sound. This will directly impact the audience experience and the ability of artists to present their work authentically,” she said.

Despite the strong support received from The Newcastle University of Newcastle and Arts NSW and a handful of in-kind venue support, TINA’s budget is still short of a substantial cash injection in order to ensure the high quality of this year’s festival.

“If we don’t have sound and lighting many aspects of the festival may not be able to go ahead in its usual format, if at all so further support is vital,” she said.

TINA is now calling for the Newcastle community to lend its support in order to maintain its culturally diverse, rich and sustainable arts sector.

TINA is seeking both sponsorship from businesses and private donations.

We at Critical Animals are doing everything we can to support This Is Not Art, and to ensure we all have the best experience possible come festival time. You can help us by getting word out about the situation through your own networks – we’ll keep you posted with updates as they come to hand. Parties interested in supporting the festival can contact the TINA team via:

Website : www.thisisnotart.org

Phone : 02 4927 0675

Email: admin@thisisnotart.org

Thank you all for your continued support!

The Critical Animals team is reporting to you fresh from the This Is Not Art programming meeting in Melbourne, meaning we’re hurtling towards festival time! All Critical Animals submissions have now been reviewed, so if you made a proposal to be involved in CA this year you will be hearing from us shortly – thanks for your patience while we plow through all the amazing applications. In the meantime, regardless as to whether you’re a presenter or audience member, now is the time to start planning your trip to TiNA 2011. The dates are September 29 – October 3 and the place is Newcastle, NSW.

The This is Not Art site has information about travel and accommodation, and Critical Animals will also be posting some practical tips for visiting this year’s festival over the coming months. Happy planning!