Trow's criticism on LOUD

Zane Trow resigned from the LOUD committee in 1996, and is the former Artistic Director for the Next Wave Festival. In a recent article lamenting the rise of LOUD Trow wrote that he left Loud because he was ''like... too old man, and too fat to wear the T-shirt anyway."

In the same article Zane said that the LOUD festival's style, content and funding are mis-directed. In a sceptical tone he wrote "...mind you it is a beautifully marketed package: Lots of glossy photos and a funky graphic design and lots of competitions."

LOUD's approach to sponsoring youth art is what Zane calls "Hey.... do anything you want kids" which he says makes for a festival with heaps of style but not a lot of substance.

Zane says the result is a festival ''20 years out of date", suggesting that a few internet sites and getting some kids' voices on the telly doesn't represent any serious attempt to develop youth arts practise.

And according to Zane the LOUD festival's rhetoric of being a significant, cutting edge festival is patronising to young artists and their audiences.

Zane expects that LOUD will be "held up by the Federal government as a model for youth arts and audience development" which he fears will distract attention from the cuts being made in the youth art sector. He says that the Coalition's "rhetoric versus action" on LOUD is an indication of the Government's approach to the wider arts industry.

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