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'ABC chair Kim Williams says he has no doubt the national broadcaster will "perform well" in any funding review ordered by the Coalition, should it win the federal election.' abc.net.au/news/2025-04-0…

Khaled Sabsabi has been reinstated as Australia representative for the Venice Biennale. A review offers a damning but restrained post-mortem. Samuel J Cairnduff @unimelb theconversation.com/creative-austr…

New in The Conversation - Australia + New Zealand: What the Venice Biennale backflip reveals about cultural leadership in Australia. Reinstating Khaled Sabsabi & Michael Dagostino shows how easily institutions falter — and how urgently we need courageous, principled leadership. theconversation.com/creative-austr…

I was pleased to contribute some thoughts to this ⁦Guardian Australia⁩ piece on what Creative Australia’s Venice Biennale decision reveals about risk, leadership & independence in the arts. #CulturalLeadership #Arts #VeniceBiennale theguardian.com/artanddesign/2…

The Orchestra Papers — my Substack series on power, purpose & the Australian imagination through our orchestras. 4 essays live — new every Monday. Who are orchestras for? What do they remember? What’s next? 📖 samuelcairnduff.substack.com #culturalleadership #orchestras

Australia has six professional symphony orchestras for 26 million people. Most countries our size have one or two. Why? It's about federalism, regional identity, and how we build national culture. Part 6 of The Orchestra Papers: open.substack.com/pub/samuelcair…

The Orchestra Papers #7 — Public Value ≠ Public Love Orchestras can deliver value without connection. Being valued isn’t the same as being loved. How can they move beyond metrics to truly see & belong to their communities? samuelcairnduff.substack.com/p/7-public-val… #CulturalLeadership

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Come on Labor…let’s see a deal with the Greens and Independents for a minority government. #politas theguardian.com/australia-news…

Does holding a flag on stage mean you speak for the institution? Why are cultural organisations still apologising for artists being human? My latest essay on the ROH incident and the role of artists and institutions today: substack.com/@samuelcairndu… #CulturalLeadership

smh.com.au/culture/art-an… “The arts are essential in challenging prejudice, fostering understanding, and supporting a society where freedom of expression is protected and valued.”

My thoughts on Hobart Councillor Louise Elliot's proposal on Acknowledgment of Country This is manufactured culture war distraction from real issues. We need generous politics, not symbolic battles. Full piece: open.substack.com/pub/samuelcair…

Dame Cleo Laine wasn't just a performer—she was a cultural builder. My reflection on her remarkable legacy and what we lose when figures of her calibre disappear. open.substack.com/pub/samuelcair…

‘Starmer’s decision to sack her was as horrifying to the party faithful as was Boris Johnson’s decision in 2019 to withdraw the Tory whip from Winston Churchill – grandson and namesake of the great man’ ⁦The Age⁩ : do you mean Nicholas Soames? theage.com.au/world/europe/n…

‘Abbott is hardly a Churchill, but she too has a powerful iconography.’ ⁦⁩⁦George Brandis⁩ What does ‘hardly a Churchill’ mean? Dianne Abbot is a much more consequential politician than Nicholas Soames, with whom you are drawing a parallel theage.com.au/world/europe/n…

Final post in The Orchestra Papers is live: how orchestras shape public memory — and what they forget. From repertoire to reconciliation, it’s all here. open.substack.com/pub/samuelcair… #orchestras #memory

Bendigo Writers Festival cancels 2025 opening night gala as writers withdraw smh.com.au/culture/books/…

My piece in ArtsHub today, on codes, censorship and crisis at Bendigo Literary Festival artshub.com.au/news/opinions-…

On the Bendigo Writers Festival, I commented in Guardian Australia : “Restricting speech and freedom of expression is the antithesis of what a cultural organisation in contemporary Australian society should be doing.” theguardian.com/books/2025/aug…