Melbourne International Arts Festival
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The Melbourne International Arts Festival (MIAF) is held each October in a number of venues across Melbourne, Australia.
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[edit] History
Melbourne International Arts Festival is an important event on the Australian cultural calendar. It was first established in 1986 by the Cain Government as a sister festival of the Festival dei Due Mondi in Spoleto and the Spoleto Festival USA held in Charleston, South Carolina. [1]
The festival changed its name from the Spoleto Festival Melbourne to the Melbourne International Festival of the Arts in 1990, and adopted its current name in 2003. It has had a number of high profile Artistic Directors including Clifford Hocking, Leo Schofield, Robyn Archer [1] and Richard Wherrett. [2] Kristy Edmunds from Portland, Oregon was selected as the director for the 2005 and 2006 Festivals.[2]
The Festival is one of the most significant festivals in Australia together with the Sydney Festival and the Adelaide Festival of Arts. As such, it hosts performances by established artistic companies as well as more experimental acts. The 2006 Melbourne International Arts Festival will host a production of Ngapartji Ngapartji with much of the dialogue in the Pitjantjatjara aboriginal language. In 2003, Andrew Olexander, the Victorian Opposition Arts Spokesman criticised the Festival for selecting a show called I Am Blood. Mary Delahunty, the Minister for the Arts, stated that the Festival should select material without political interference. [3]
[edit] References
[edit] Footnotes
- [1] Melbourne arts festival offers free events 7 August 2003 ABC MacquarieNet 2003 (online edition) Accessed 28 June 2006
- [2] PR Newswire, "Kristy Edmunds Joins Melbourne International Arts Festival As Artistic Director for 2005 and 2006" February 9 2004
- [3] Govt should not veto arts festival, Minister says ABC MacquarieNet 2003 (online edition) Accessed 28 June 2006
