QPAC performances in jeopardy due to coronavirus

High level talks have been held between QPAC executives and the State Government with no resolution yet but things in the short term are looking grim for our premier arts centre.

QPAC executives and stakeholders have been meeting behind closed doors all day but have still not resolved the future operations of our major arts centre.

But with most of their venues holding more than 500 people things aren’t looking good and a definitive statement on their future operations is expected Tuesday.

In the meantime QPAC chief executive John Kotzas said the organisation was “continuing to review the Centre’s forward program in collaboration with companies and producers in light of unfolding advice and will provide updates to patrons and media as new information comes to hand.”

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“At QPAC, we are working closely with Queensland Health and will continue to keep our patrons informed and updated,” Mr Kotzas said. “We are also following the requirements of current health advice from the Queensland and Australian Government.”

The QPAC board was meeting Monday night and a statemnet is expected Tuesday.

QPAC chief executive John Kotzas. Picture: Marc McCormack

The big event at QPAC this week was supposed to be the Queensland Ballet’s 60th Anniversary Gala but the ballet pulled the pin on that late last week. The big event in the middle of the year is a visit by the world famous Paris Opera Ballet for the 2020 QPAC International Series but that is now looking less and less likely to go ahead.

While the big players can probably weather the storm small to mediums arts companies are more vulnerable. So on Tuesday La Boite Theatre Company will host a briefing specifically focused on independent and small to mediums.

La Boite’s executive director Zohar Spatz said the plan was “to discuss COVID-19, the implications it may have on the independent and small to medium sector, live performance and public gatherings”.

La Boite’s executive director Zohar Spatz.

“This session will be focused on information sharing, with representation from AQ, LPA and MEAA,” Ms Spatz said

La Boite hosted an event on the weekend at which independent artists spoke of the months of work that they had already lost and the implications it is having on their future.

Ms Spatz said that “simply by communing and sharing information there are real benefits for the health and wellbeing of our arts community”.

Meanwhile Live Performance Australia Chief Executive, Evelyn Richardson, will participate in an industry roundtable on Tuesday with the Federal Minister for Communications, Cyber Safety and the Arts, Paul Fletcher.

Ms Richardson said the live performance industry was already counting a rapidly rising toll in cancelled shows, festivals and events, job losses, venue closures and lost revenue.

Evelyn Richardson Chief Executive Live Performance Australia.

The ‘I Lost My Gig’ campaign has recorded, in less than 48-hours, over $47 million worth of lost income by small-to-medium businesses and independent contractors who have had jobs cancelled across the creative industries, and this number is only set to grow. An estimated 20,000 work opportunities have been cancelled, impacting over 190,000 people.

“The economic and cultural cost of the coronavirus shutdown for the live performance industry is likely to exceed more than half a billion dollars and thousands of jobs over coming months.

“The live performance industry is on the frontline of the public health war on coronavirus and needs the full support of government if it is to have any chance of coming through the other side of this unprecedented crisis period. “Many of our smaller to medium sized companies simply do not have the financial reserves to survive an extended shutdown period. They may be lost to the industry forever.”

Ms Richardson noted the economic stimulus package announced by the Federal Government last week, but said events had significantly changed since that time and the live performance industry had unique needs that needed to be considered, including the vulnerability of its companies to withstand this crisis and its very significant casual workforce.