What would Australia be like if it had been recognised as terra alterius, ???land of another???, by the British, rather than claimed and treated as terra nullius, ???land of no-one???? This question was posed by the exhibition Terra Alterius: Land of Another, which comprised works by Gordon Bennett, Barbara Campbell-Allen, Julie Dowling, Shaun Gladwell + Michael Schiavello, Jonathan Jones, Joanne Searle, Esme Timbery, Freddie Timms, Lynette Wallworth, Guan Wei and Lena Yarinkura, created or nominated in response to the theme. This thesis describes the concept of terra alterius and the exhibition Terra Alterius: Land of Another. It considers the utility of the concept terra alterius, whether the exhibition achieved its ambition to explore the political and social terrain of a reconciled Australia, and, briefly, whether the concept of terra alterius might be useful to other ???terra nullius??? countries. It argues that the curatorial strategies ??? the ???What if???? re-imagination of Australia???s past, multiplicity of vision and active creation, grounding of the exhibition in affect (in response to Aboriginal painting), and working within Indigenous protocols ??? were effective, and that the exhibition was a useful means of exploring the relationships between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians. Comparisons with the exhibition Turn the Soil curated by Kevin Murray and the ???retrospective utopia??? W.H. Oliver argues has been created for New Zealand by the Waitangi Tribunal provide insight into the nature of the reconciled Australia presented in the exhibition and what might be achieved by a counterfactual exhibition. From these comparisons, it is argued, first, that the exhibition points to a disjuncture between Australia???s ongoing official, psychological and legal terra nullius and the approaches and relationships present in Australian society (characterised as a performance of Bloch???s utopian function); and secondly, that a counterfactual exhibition, because it is not bound to the factual, causal or narrative qualities traditionally attributed to history, is able to explore the future in a way that contains rather than denies the past. Although the concept of terra alterius is seen as having played a crucial role in the realisation of the exhibition, it is questioned whether the concept???s utility extends beyond Australia.

What would Australia be like if it had been recognised as terra alterius, ???land of another???, by the British, rather than claimed and treated as terra nullius, ???land of no-one???? This question was posed by the exhibition Terra Alterius: Land of Another, which comprised works by Gordon Bennett, Barbara Campbell-Allen, Julie Dowling, Shaun Gladwell + Michael Schiavello, Jonathan Jones, Joanne Searle, Esme Timbery, Freddie Timms, Lynette Wallworth, Guan Wei and Lena Yarinkura, created or nominated in response to the theme. This thesis describes the concept of terra alterius and the exhibition Terra Alterius: Land of Another. It considers the utility of the concept terra alterius, whether the exhibition achieved its ambition to explore the political and social terrain of a reconciled Australia, and, briefly, whether the concept of terra alterius might be useful to other ???terra nullius??? countries. It argues that the curatorial strategies ??? the ???What if???? re-imagination of Australia???s past, multiplicity of vision and active creation, grounding of the exhibition in affect (in response to Aboriginal painting), and working within Indigenous protocols ??? were effective, and that the exhibition was a useful means of exploring the relationships between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians. Comparisons with the exhibition Turn the Soil curated by Kevin Murray and the ???retrospective utopia??? W.H. Oliver argues has been created for New Zealand by the Waitangi Tribunal provide insight into the nature of the reconciled Australia presented in the exhibition and what might be achieved by a counterfactual exhibition. From these comparisons, it is argued, first, that the exhibition points to a disjuncture between Australia???s ongoing official, psychological and legal terra nullius and the approaches and relationships present in Australian society (characterised as a performance of Bloch???s utopian function); and secondly, that a counterfactual exhibition, because it is not bound to the factual, causal or narrative qualities traditionally attributed to history, is able to explore the future in a way that contains rather than denies the past. Although the concept of terra alterius is seen as having played a crucial role in the realisation of the exhibition, it is questioned whether the concept???s utility extends beyond Australia.

Abstract not available

The thesis argues that the relations between culture and government are best viewed through an analysis of the programmatic and institutional contexts for the use of culture as an interface in the relations between citizenship and government. Discussion takes place through an analysis of the history of art programmes which, in seeking to target a 'general' population, have attempted to equip this population with various particular capacities. We aim to provide a history of rationalities of art administration. This will provide us with an approach through which we might understand some of the seemingly irreconcilable policy discourses which characterise contemporary discussion of government arts funding. Research for this thesis aims to make a contribution to historical research on arts institutions in Australia and provide a base from which to think about the role of government in culture in contemporary Australia. In order to reflect on the relations between government and culture the thesis discusses the key rationales for the conjunction of art, citizenship and government in post-World War Two (WWII) Australia to the present day. Thus, the thesis aims to contribute an overview of the discursive origins of the main contemporary rationales framing arts subvention in post-WWII Australia. The relations involved in the government of culture in late eighteenth-century France, nineteenth-century Britain, America in the 1930s and Britain during WWII are examined by way of arguing that the discursive influences on government cultural policy in Australia have been diverse. It is suggested in relation to present day Australian cultural policy that more effective terms of engagement with policy imperatives might be found in a history of the funding of culture which emphasises the plurality of relations between governmental programmes and the self-shaping activities of citizens. During this century there has been a shift in the political rationality which organises government in modern Western liberal democracies. The historical case studies which form section two of the thesis enable us to argue that, since WWII, cultural programmes have been increasingly deployed on the basis of a governmental rationality that can be described as advanced or neo-liberal. This is both in relation to the forms these programmes have taken and in relation to the character of the forms of conduct such programmes have sought to shape in the populations they act upon. Mechanisms characteristic of such neo-liberal forms of government are those associated with the welfare state and include cultural programmes. Analysis of governmental programmes using such conceptual tools allows us to interpret problems of modern social democratic government less in terms of oppositions between structure and agency and more in terms of the strategies and techniques of government which shape the activities of citizens. Thus, the thesis will approach the field of cultural management not as a field of monolithic decision making but as a domain in which there are a multiplicity of power effects, knowledges, and tactics, which react to, or are based upon, the management of the population through culture. The thesis consists of two sections. Section one serves primarily to establish a set of historical and theoretical co-ordinates on which the more detailed historical work of the thesis in section two will be based. We conclude by emphasising the necessity for the continuation of a mix of policy frameworks in the construction of the relations between art, government and citizenship which will encompass a focus on diverse and sometimes competing policy goals.

The managers of professional performing arts organisations are faced with a unique dilemma. They must support their artistic personnel, who are typically driven by the quest for new, challenging and experimental works, while achieving the economic success necessary for the continued viability of their organisations. Failing to effectively manage this artistic-economic dichotomy can result in a conflict between artists and managers that threatens the long-term survival of these organisations. There is a clear need, therefore, for arts managers to foster an organisational climate that minimises conflict, while promoting organisational citizenship behaviours (OCBs) such as sportsmanship (a willingness to tolerate less than ideal circumstances without complaining) and courtesy (a willingness to show sensitivity towards others and actively avoid creating problems for co-workers). The main aim of the present study was to examine the extent to which factors such as organisational structure, organisational culture and employees’ motivational orientation influence people’s perceptions of their job scope (as indicated by high levels of task variety, task identity, task significance, autonomy and feedback from the job), a construct which has been found to reduce organisational conflict and increase employees’ propensity to display OCBs. While these relationships have been suggested in previous research, they have not been tested in a performing arts industry context. The data analysed in the present study suggested an enjoyment motivational orientation, a challenge motivational orientation, an organic culture and formalisation positively influenced perceptions of job scope, which, in turn, positively influenced both OCBs (sportsmanship and courtesy). A challenge orientation also had a positive impact on sportsmanship, while sportsmanship positively and directly influenced courtesy. Centralisation was negatively related to perceived job scope and sportsmanship, although it had a positive impact on courtesy. Conflict was negatively influenced by formalisation and by an organic culture, but was positively influenced by a hierarchal culture.

All forms of cultural interaction are expressive and creative. In particular, what the performing arts express is not always the conscious, the ideal and the rational, but more often the preconscious, pre-verbal, asocial and irrational, touching on darker undercurrents of human and extra-human interrelations, experiences, beliefs, fears, desires and values. So what is performance and how does it differ in cultures? A performance is a translation of an idea into a synaesthetic experience. In the context of this thesis, however, translation does not imply reductive literal translation as can be attempted by analogy in spoken or written descriptions and notation systems. The translation is one through which participating groups and individuals seek to understand the being in the world of the Other by means of mutual, embodied negotiation of meaning - sensually, experientially, perceptually, cognitively and emotionally - that is, by means of performance. As a contribution towards a social theory of human performance, the author offers reflections on an exchange between two performance ecologies - those of a group of Aboriginal Australian performers from Mimili, Central Australia and a mixed ethnic group of Australian performers from Penrith, NSW, Australia. / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)