Chinese-speaking students a largely untapped arts audience, says new report

Drawing on a comprehensive survey of 600+ Chinese-speaking students, a new report provides insights and case studies to help arts organisations engage with this potentially huge audience segment.

A lack of time, a lack of experience and a lack of willingness may be among the reasons why Melbourne arts organisations have largely failed to engage with the city’s Chinese-speaking student population, the authors of a new report have suggested.

‘Let’s be fair, I think Melbourne has changed pretty quickly and pretty significantly, particularly the centre of Melbourne over the last 10 years. And perhaps we haven’t quite caught up with that in the art sector,’ said Kate Ben-Tovim, who together with Tam Nguyen and Wenona Lok is one of the three lead authors of the 520 Melbourne report.

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Richard Watts OAM is ArtsHub's National Performing Arts Editor; he also presents the weekly program SmartArts on Three Triple R FM. Richard is a life member of the Melbourne Queer Film Festival, a Melbourne Fringe Festival Living Legend, and was awarded the Sidney Myer Performing Arts Awards' Facilitator's Prize in 2020. In 2021 he received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Green Room Awards Association. Most recently, Richard received a Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM) in June 2024. Follow him on Twitter: @richardthewatts