[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]More than a thousand people gathered on Melbourne’s ACCA forecourt, to protest the removal of 104 million dollars of arts funding from the Australia Council.
The rally was organized on a national scale with protests to be held in all major cities across the Country at 1.30pm AEST today.
Jake Wishart from the MEAA says that the cuts “are going to have a devastating affect both for jobs for artist, performers and dancers and all the creative types in our industries. That’s a problem creatively for our artistic culture.”
Protests were organized by social media with the hashtag #freethearts circulating twitter. Members of the ‘Free The Arts’ facebook page were instructed to learn the ‘Hoofer Dance’, which would be performed at the rally.
Those who didn’t manage to perfect the steps were given a quick tutorial at the site and all were encouraged to join in.
The Australia council has received funding from the government for over a decade, funding that Minister Brandis plans to withdraw. Wishart says “The arts are really important in this country and want them to be free from political interference. They should be in the hands of artists not politicians.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”1/1″][vc_raw_js]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[/vc_raw_js][/vc_column][/vc_row]