Support for Festival of India in Australia 2016

MEDIA RELEASE

26 July 2016 

The Turnbull Coalition Government has announced $250,000 to support the Confluence: Festival of India in Australia 2016.

Launched today, the festival is the most significant showcase of India’s arts and culture to be staged in Australia. Held from August to November 2016, the festival will bring an exciting and diverse program of the finest classical and contemporary performing and visual arts from India to audiences across six Australian cities. The festival will also include a number of community activities and collaborations with local artists.  

This cultural celebration will extend and deepen the longstanding relationship between Australia and India by giving Australian audiences the opportunity to experience a program including exhibitions, theatre, dance and music.

The Festival of India in Australia was announced by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2014 and is a key deliverable of the Memorandum of Understanding on Cooperation in the Field of Arts and Culture between the Government of the Republic of India and the Australian Government. The festival follows the Australian Government’s ‘Oz Fest’, a major cultural festival in India that ran from October 2012 to February 2013. 

The Australian Government has committed $200,000 to the festival through the Department of Communications and the Arts and a further $50,000 from the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade through the Australia India Council.

For more information on the 2016 program visit: http://confluencefoi.com/