CoUNTess Report

The latest Countess Report has been released, providing a reference point for gender equity in Australia’s contemporary visual arts. The report builds on the 2016 edition, showing significant increase in gender equity across public galleries, artist-run initiatives, major museums and university galleries, biennales, commercial galleries and contemporary art organisations. A total of 13,000 artists were counted across 184 organisations.

“Congratulations to the ARIs, contemporary art organisations, commercial galleries, major museums and university galleries, public galleries and biennales who’ve made such significant gender equity gains.
However, the research as revealed in the report focuses public attention on the pressing need for state-owned collections and institutions to match the progress made by the independent sector to redress the gender imbalance in collecting and promoting the work of women artists.”

– John Cruthers, The Sheila Foundation, Chair.

The Countess Report is a benchmarking project and online resource on gender equality in the Australian contemporary art sector, founded by Elvis Richardson. The Countess Report is funded by the Sheila Foundation Ltd (formerly Cruthers Art Foundation), and backed by the National Association for the Visual Arts (NAVA).