About

The Australian Cultural Data Engine was a multidisciplinary project based at the University of Melbourne that sought to harness leading cultural databases to analyse cultural production, artistic networks, and the socio-economic implications of arts and cultural data. We aimed to improve the quality of cultural data available to researchers, industry and government and to facilitate interoperability across platforms, systems and regions. 

The arts and culture are what make us human. From going to the theatre and listening to live music, to visiting an art gallery or walking through a museum, participation in the arts is a critical component of Australian life. The increasingly participatory nature of arts and culture today, driven largely by digital technology, has expanded the arts and facilitated new forms of consumption and engagement with different and emerging audiences. 

We are interested in who is participating in arts and cultural activity in Australia and where and how it happens. We argue that a better understanding of Australia’s vibrant culture landscape should shape and inform government policy and support for the Arts and other key sectors. 

Key Research Questions 

• How might different levels of analysis (biographical data, organisational dynamics, national trends, individual creative works) tell new stories about the past, present and future of art and culture? 

• Which new theoretical approaches to large cultural data can help us to interrogate our exclusions, biases and assumptions about cultures? 

• Which innovative computer science methods can we employ to improve cultural data ontologies, and broaden the scale and accessibility of cultural data collections?