Delivering the inaugural State of the Arts Lecture last Tuesday night at the National Gallery of Victoria, former Melbourne Festival Director, Jonathan Mills called on the arts to play a greater role in engaging with a broad range of cultural traditions. Rather than allowing the arts to be cast in a subsidiary role in society, Mills argues the likely cultural challenges Australia faces in coming decades provide the arts with a critical opportunity to help build a tolerant, vibrant and cosmopolitan society.
Jonathan Mills is currently Director of the Edinburgh International Festival and flew into Melbourne specifically to deliver this lecture. He is well known in Australia as one of our most experienced arts festival directors and for serving as the Director of the Alfred Deakin Lecture, and as Artistic Advisor to the new Melbourne Recital Centre.
