More about the fallout from this year’s Telstra Art awards and the possible changes that will be made for the 2009 edition:

“It’s the silver jubilee this year (for the Telstra awards),” Kohen says. “For 25 years it has been the same recipe … We’ve done it very well; however, there are other awards happening, we have sometimes had bad press. What we want to hear is how (we can) remain leaders in the field and make some improvements, if any.”

The move comes after 14 artworks from seven remote art centres were pulled from this year’s awards following concerns about other entrants. The split, revealed by The Australian in July, was a “silent protest” against the inclusion of four paintings from a rival art centre.