A year of partnerships and collaboration 

2022 has past by fast and is best remembered by new partnerships formed and the reopening of the international border which allowed us to resume vital face to face connection with our global partners. The period during COVID-19 restrictions gave us pause to reconsider the value of travel and ways to maximise all opportunities. We felt privileged to take advantage of renewed mobility when we were invited by the Australia Korea Foundation and the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade to present at the inaugural Korea Australia Future Forum in Seoul, a result of the new Comprehensive Strategic Partnership. We also revisited Indonesia with a small delegation led by patron Konfir Kabo from Project 11 Foundation. With jam-packed visits across Bandung, Jakarta and Makassar we built and renewed friendships and understandings of current practices which will inform our strategies in 2023 and beyond. 

We are proud of our impacts in 2022 achieved in partnership with so many – we worked with individuals and organisations from across 20 different countries of the Asia-Pacific region and attracted audiences to our events and activities of well over 1,500. Underlying all our work is the generosity of our partners and supporters. There are many and we want to acknowledge the collegiate partnership of the team at the APT10 and QAGOMA, Darwin Festival, Cementa, Arts Tasmania, Creative Victoria, The Australia Council for the Arts, The Australia Korea Foundation and the 30 members of the Regional // Regional Alliance across Australia and the Asia Pacific. We especially acknowledge the financial assistance provided by visionary private benefactors in 2022: The Yulgilbar Foundation, Circle 5, Konfir Kabo, Project 11 Foundation and Susan Gin. 

Lastly, we are sad to farewell for our dear colleague Jala Adolphus who has helped us transform our programs over the last 18 months and we wish her all the best for her future endeavours. With a renewed approach to diplomacy across the Asia-Pacific region we are at a unique moment in time when we can transform and propel Australia's creative engagement with Asia. We are looking forward to welcoming new members to the team in 2023. 

From all of us at Asialink we wish you all a very happy and peaceful end to 2022 and a bright start to 2023, especially as we welcome a new Australian Cultural Policy and refreshed engagement with our region. 

Pippa Dickson, Director, Asialink Arts 

Tasmanian artists collaborating in Singapore  

From 2021 through to 2023 we are delighted to be delivering a program of briefings, workshops and one to one mentoring for the Tasmanian creative industries. In the next stage Tasmanian based actor and singer Stephanie Jack and representatives from Assembly 197 will travel to Singapore in early 2023 to pursue and build partnerships with collaborators for new presentations. 

Strengthening cultural bridges across the Indo-Pacific 

We were thrilled to launch our three-year initiative Regional // Regional: Festival Alliances Across Australia and the Asia Pacific during Darwin Festival – and to have met three times with Alliance members since. The program is driven by the self-expressed need of regionally based producers and directors to connect internationally with peers across the Indo-Pacific – creating long term outcomes for regional audiences.  

Breaking through the bamboo ceiling 

Asialink was proud to partner with Johnson & Partners and the Australian National University to host the Most Influential Asian Australian Awards in Sydney - a platform to break the bamboo ceiling by promoting leadership among talented Asian Australians.  

The Arts and Culture category in 2022 included powerhouses Rainbow Chan, Stephanie Jack, Rani Pramesti and Victoria Falconer. The 2022 winner of the Arts and Culture category was prolific writer and actor, Michelle Law.   

Advancing Australia’s Arts and Cultural Policy 

Asialink Arts welcomed new Minister for the Arts, The Hon Tony Burke MP to the role and the opportunity to provide a submission for consideration in the Australian Government’s formulation of the new National Cultural Policy. We look forward to policies grounded in the needs of the arts and cultural sectors that nurture meaningful and sustained international engagements, deepening connections across the Asia-Pacific. 

Arts Fellows in the Asialink Leaders Program 

We were incredibly proud to award two Arts Fellowships for the Asialink Leaders Program in 2022 to Alana Hunt, independent artist and coordinator of Regional Assembly at Regional Arts Australia and Ari Palani, Youth and Education Producer at LaBoite Theatre. EoI’s for 2023 are imminent - stay tuned. The 7-month cross-sectoral Asialink Leaders Program is a flagship program, now running for 28 years. Asialink Arts continues to support programming that inspires critical thinking of the value of arts and cultural engagement in the Asia-Pacific region and explores notions of identity, becoming and belonging in Australia.