Green Room: Arts South Australia appoints executive director, Hottest 100 cools on SA talent
SA arts & culture news in brief.
Clare Mockler to head Arts South Australia (again)
This week the state government confirmed that former City of Adelaide CEO Clare Mockler has been appointed ongoing Executive Director of Arts South Australia, a few months after stepping in as the department’s interim head.
Mockler will be back in the hot seat after briefly jumping over to the embattled South Australian Museum, where she is currently interim chief executive after the departure of outgoing museum head Dr David Gaimster was quietly announced over Christmas.
Minister for Arts Andrea Michaels MP confirmed the latest reshuffle in a statement.
“Yes, Clare Mockler has been appointed permanently as Executive Director of Arts SA,” Michaels said.
“She did a fantastic job as interim director and I look forward to continuing to work with her as we deliver South Australia’s new cultural policy this year.”
Readers might recall Mockler was named interim Executive Director back in August 2024, following a Saturday morning media release announcing that Adelaide Festival artistic director Ruth Mackenzie was leaving the festival early for a newly created and “pivotal” policy role in the Department of Premier and Cabinet.
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Clare Mockler is set to make a permanent return to Arts South Australia
The buoyant government media release announcing Mockler and Mackenzie’s new roles also added that Becc Bates, a veteran of local arts administration, would also transition from Director Creative Industries to Director Strategy and Investment.
“The three appointments demonstrate the importance to the government of ensuring the arts and creative industries in South Australia continue to be world-leading, innovative and hugely beneficial to the economic and cultural wellbeing of our state,” the release stated.
Two months later, Bates took a job outside the public sector heading the arts non-for-profit Immersive Light and Art. It remains unclear how long Mackenzie will stay in her current role – last August, the minister initially told media that she expected the role to last at least six months.
“Ruth Mackenzie is also doing an outstanding job and is an asset to the State Government and Arts SA will have conversations with her over the coming months,” said Minister Michaels in a statement this week.
Mockler and Mackenzie have a big year ahead, with the state government’s new and long-awaited cultural policy still expected to drop later this year after it was initially slated for 2024.
Triple J Hottest 100 cool on local talent
The annual Triple J Hottest 100 countdown has inspired grumblings about the dearth of Australian acts on the list — with just 29 tracks performed by a crop of 18 local artists.
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Sadly, no South Australian artists made the cut, a step down from last year’s poll which saw the ever-reliable Hilltop Hoods joined by multiple tracks by Adelaide-raised pop star Peach PRC.
Things looked better in this year’s 101-200 list, however, with Peach PRC landing at 112, 153 and 194 with Secret, Time of My Life and Touchy Subject. Another Adelaide expat, rapper Allday, appeared at 114 for his Ben Lee-sampling Cub Sport collaboration, Miss You Still.
Hilltop Hoods’ upcoming ninth studio album, initially slated for 2024, will presumably arrive soon to rectify the situation in next year’s countdown.
American pop singer Chappell Roan topped the overall list for her breakout hit Good Luck, Babe! with a record share of the 2.4 million votes cast (a new high for the annual countdown). The number two spot was taken by Sydney duo Royal Otis’ Like A Version cover of Sophie Ellis Bextor’s Murder on the Dancefloor, a track that underwent its own renaissance in 2023 thanks to an appearance in the film Saltburn.
InReview suggests emerging Adelaide acts start rehearsing shoegaze covers of the next big viral movie song — a toss-up between George Michael’s Father Figure and, I don’t know, something from the new Paddington.
Cranker patrons told to sit down, drink up
Beloved live music venue the Crown and Anchor Hotel has drawn a lot of attention over the last 12 months, but after securing its long-term survival in the face of a controversial development plan, its current management have reported renewed scrutiny from Liquor Licensing inspectors over its outdoor dining permit.
In an appeal to the “Cranker fam” for “cooperation, patience and understanding”, the pub’s Instagram page posted a reminder to remain seated while drinking outdoors. It also noted that “taking drinks across the road or down Union Street is a serious breach of our license”.
A decade ago, in the “Let a hundred Small Bars Bloom” era of the mid-2010s, then-Attorney General John Rau introduced reforms that would allow certain venues to loosen restrictions on standing while drinking. At the time, the Cranker’s then-proprietor declined to take up the offer, explaining that the pub’s free-range set-up on Grenfell and Union streets was harder to police than other venues with enclosed outdoor spaces.
After a huge year of protests that saw Cranker supporters called upon to stand up and hit the streets in their thousands, perhaps it’s no surprise the message needs clarification.
Green Room is a regular column for InReview, providing quick news for people interested, or involved, in South Australian arts and culture. Get in touch by emailing us at [email protected]