A Central Australian Cultural Audit
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
hot arts A Central Australian Cultural Audit HOT Arts Team Researcher: Nicole Sarfati Research Supervisor : Lucy Kenneth contents Cultural Liason: Sue O’Connor Editor: Nicki Levy Design: Nicole Sarfati / Nigel Campbell - NT Print Management Cover Design: Lucy Kenneth Thanks to all Central Australian individuals and organisations that contributed their time, words and images. We hope the publication has helped to give proper voice to the special arts community living in this amazing central desert. Images front: Milky Way, Dan Murphy. Circosis, Cats Meow Cabaret 2007. Two Ways; a garmant for breathing, Elliot Rich. Photo A Kershaw. Beanie Festival 2008. Photo Merran Hughes Under Today, Goyder lane, Shifting Ground 2007. Performance Maker; Dani Powell. Dancers Francis Martin, Miriam Bond. Photo Amanda King. Harry Tjutjuna Wati Wanka/Spiderman, Acrylic on Linen, 2007 © Ernabella Arts. Photo: Todd Beaconsall Image back: Max Kenny, Family Mix, Bush Bands Bash 2007. contents introduction 2 signposts 2 hot stuff 5 the bones 8 good story: Ngapartji Ngapartji 16 who r u & what do u do? 20 good story: CAAMA 25 getting it out there 27 good story: Alice Springs Beanie Festival 30 off the bitumen 33 good story: Julalikari Arts 40 Colonial Intuition, Andrew Moynihan, 2008 introduction It’s one thing to have a sense that Alice has an amazing arts community, to have a feeling for the uniqueness of the place and of the distinct issues that we all grapple with and are inspired by. All of us who live and work here have a sense of these issues, ideas and projects. It’s another thing to have a level of analysis to put what we all already know on paper and to document this vibrant and diverse arts community. This audit is an important document for the Alice Springs arts community. It provides a point of reflection on where we are, who we are and the many different ways we do things and think about what we do. It also provides us with evidence and information which we can use both amongst ourselves and with government, funders, Territory and national arts networks and say Check Us Out! RedHOT Arts has taken on an important project and a laborious, albeit exciting task, in interviewing groups across the community to put this exciting document together. Congratulations to RedHot Arts and to the wonderful work which inspires this book. Alex Kelly signpost Chairperson RedHOT Arts Board “It’s a place where you can actually get a job as an arts manager, there are no other regional centres in Australia that have this amount of work. It’s really incredible for a population this size (27,000) how many arts based jobs we do have... that’s exciting because it is attracting artists.” Lucy Kenneth, Unique, vibrant, nationally successful and often wacky the isolated Central Australian Arts Sector is diverse as it is energetic. For nearly twelve months RedHOT Arts has looked into the heart of its local arts scene and asked the big and small questions of forty-seven arts organisations located in and surrounding Alice Springs. Over a cup of tea and over the phone we have collected over 70 hours of conversations about the structures, governance, programs, marketing, challenges and best practice of these organisations. All not for profit arts organisations throughout the Central Australian region were invited to participate in the Central Australian Cultural Audit. This included Aboriginal controlled art centres, key arts organisations and community arts groups. This Audit has not set out to interview or scope the needs of individual artists, this task would be considerable and warrants its own dedicated research project, one we hope to undertake in the future. A forest, ceramic. Artist/photographer Pip McManus signpost The Audit includes fast facts, industry statistics, as well as heartfelt passion from on the ground art aficionados and desert die-hards. The intention was to compile useful information for the stakeholders in the regional arts community and to inform RedHOT Arts service provision into the future. Significant stakeholders in the Central Australian arts community include arts organisations, their staff, program beneficiaries, governing bodies, artists and funding bodies. This Audit builds on industry data collected by RedHOT Arts in 2002. We have tried to give space to the many voices of those respondents we interviewed. The generosity of time and contribution was considerable and as a result we have only been able to include a small slice of what was collected; matching quotes and ideas to key sections of the publication. In a number of cases respondents have asked that their names be withheld but for the statements to remain. The Audit has been undertaken to: • Map a profile of the Central Australian arts sector, their activities, structure, roles and relationship to and in their communities. • Ascertain current and future needs of Central Australian arts organisations and artists to inform RedHOT Arts in their role and service as an arts advocacy and support organisation. • Provide arts organisations with a “picture” of the Central Australian arts sector as a tool in their own strategic development and future place, promotion and lobbying. Central Australia is a creative cluster, with both concentration and diversity. The Indigenous arts sector has attracted creative people from all over which has fuelled the growth of the wider arts sector. Inter-cultural influence is often a given for arts organisations in Central Australia but there are tremendous challenges in how we engage Indigenous people in the sector and the reality versus the expectation of funding bodies. The Central Australian arts sector is feisty and fiercely independent yet at the same time it is also very emergent and still vulnerable from the imbalance of over activity versus under-resourcing. The Audit has revealed a diverse and rapidly growing sector that punches above its weight in terms of artistic output. We don’t have the luxury of a large pool of professionals and business folk to draw board members from. Everybody is over committed and over volunteering for yet another meeting, they just want to be creative. Artback NT touring exhibition, Recoil, at Araluen Arts Centre 2008 Photo Anthony Gribble signpost A number of key recommendations have been compiled from the respondents’ many voices. These are directed towards all sector stakeholders and represent avenues for the future development of the regional sector. o To support increased resourcing of the Central Australian arts sector. A common issue is the top end heavy annual arts funding allocation. o To encourage improved inclusion and engagement of satellite offices in head office activities including, budget clarity, board relationships and stronger communication avenues such as face to face meetings and information sharing. o Ongoing funding for staffing is a priority. There is a strong trend for organisations to be understaffed with part-time staff undertaking full-time roles and full-timers covering a number of roles. There is ongoing tension between time spent creating art and time spent seeking funding. o To scope a research project that investigates the imbalance between Indigenous program activity and Indigenous staffing in Alice Springs based arts organisations. o To continue and expand resourcing of shared infrastructure such as the RedHOT Arts Space is a critical support mechanism, particularly for satellite office and part-time staffed organisations, and should enhance remote art centre infrastructure including office space and men’s painting areas. o To build greater understanding of the diversity of roles of remote art centres and the considerable environmental stress on arts managers. These organisations are community hubs, not just economic saviours. o To support organisations to consider a holistic operational framework that gives equal validity to social / community, cultural and environmental outcomes alongside economic outcomes. o To engage in building two way conversations that explore the synergies between governance and cultural practices as a way of operating. That funding bodies and organisational structures understand and value the variety of ways that the sector involves Indigenous people in their programs and management, particularly with consideration of two way processes that value relationships as well as paper processes. o To foster Peer based board models, where organisations support their paid staff to sit on the boards of other organisations, to encourage arts administrators to work together and develop complements of interest, rather than competing all the time. It is good for partnership building and also gives staff empathy in board management. o The formation of a peak regional arts body is the appropriate vehicle for the formation of stronger cohesiveness across the sector with shared programming and partnerships. o Such a body could facilitate dedicated regional arts development positions that link organisations to each other and to remote communities in particular. o To invest in art form development through and beyond the visual arts. o To support long term on-site training in the areas of web development, governance, languages, and cross cultural skills. o To build sector wide capacity to engage appropriately with the education sector in regards to audience and project development. o To encourage organisations to integrate audience development strategies at the beginning and not the end of the planning process. Lucy Kenneth, Director, RedHOT Arts 2008 There is a perception that what happens in CentralHOT Desert is singularly special. Central DesertStuff is the heart of Australia’s Indigenous arts industry and home to some extraordinary events, organisations and artists. ”This is the hub for Indigenous Arts so of course the arts scene here is going to be big but I think the non Indigenous visual artists have a really strong grounding in this town as well.” Franca Barraclough, Alice Desert Festival Programmer & Cat’s Meow Cabaret Producer “I think the arts in Central Australia is very vibrant and that’s not only the visual arts, I am talking about musicians, drama, dance.