Art Exhibitions: A Tool of Cultural Diplomacy

Abstract

Cultural diplomacy is a resource deployed by governments to build relationships that support policy agendas. This thesis examines how art exhibitions are a tool of cultural diplomacy in Australia in the late 20th and early 21st centuries. It considers how three case studies - Modern Masters: Manet to Matisse (1975), Utopia: The Genius of Emily Kame Kngwarreye (2008) and Culture Warriors (2009) - were used to build diplomatic, political and economic influence. Politicians, diplomats and government officials often use the term soft power to describe cultural diplomacy. However, this interchanging use of a broad term obscures the specifics of cultural diplomacy and how it is used as a resource to achieve soft power objectives. Art exhibitions have been recognised as being a form of cultural diplomacy, but Australian scholarship on this is limited. This thesis examines specific case studies that reveal how art exhibitions enhance a nation’s ability to influence and strengthen bilateral relations when conventional diplomatic initiatives fail. It argues that art exhibitions are important examples of cultural diplomacy because they are inextricably tied to state actors, diplomatic situations of the day, politics and investment.