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Mowanjum Aboriginal Art & Culture Centre

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Mowanjum Aboriginal Art & Culture Centre Mowanjum Aboriginal Art & Culture Centre Submission to the Standing Committee on Indigenous Affairs' inquiry into pathways and participation opportunities for Indigenous Australians in employment and business To: Committee Secretary House of Representatives Standing Committee on Indigenous Affairs PO Box 6021 Parliament House Canberra ACT 2600 Responsible person: Ella Doonan Mowanjum Aboriginal Art & Culture Centre Date prepared: 27 January 2020 1 1. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Mowanjum Arts welcomes the opportunity to provide a response to the inquiry into the pathways and participation opportunities for Indigenous Australians in employment and business. Our submission is informed by Mowanjum Arts' perspective as an Indigenous owned art centre servicing the remote community of Mowanjum outside of Derby, Western Australia. Opportunities for Indigenous Australians living in remote communities to generate income and develop a fulfilling career are limited due to a lack of employment opportunities and training. The art centre model is an example of an Indigenous owned, governed and operated enterprise that supports the economic independence of remote and very remote communities. Art centres such as Mowanjum Aboriginal Art & Culture Centre (Mowanjum Arts) provide local employment and training opportunities for arts workers that are compatible with community life and consistent with Indigenous people's right to continued practice of culture on their homelands. Properly resourced training programs for arts worker roles have the potential to overcome identified barriers to employment and training facing Indigenous Australians in the remote and very remote context. Employment of arts workers by the art centre sector promotes the Australian Government's objective of supporting employment of Indigenous Australians as set out in its Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Employment Strategy. In our experience, programs that support and engage arts worker roles contribute to sustainable and healthy communities. Recommendation: Allocated funding for one-on-one arts worker training and mentorship programs (distinct from art centre operational funding) is crucial to providing access to long term and meaningful employment to more Indigenous Australians living in remote communities. This submission addresses the following terms of reference: • Employment pathways available to Indigenous Australians; • Barriers to employment for Indigenous Australians, including access to employment and training; • Government employment programs and opportunities to build upon effective initiatives; • Identifying gaps and opportunities in the workforce and future growth sectors that could result in employment and enterprise options for Indigenous Australians; and • Experience of successful enterprises initiated and owned by Indigenous Australians. 2 2. EMPLOYMENT IN REMOTE COMMUNITIES The network of art centres across Australia provide arts sector based professional opportunities for over 7000 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander artists and 300 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander arts workers.1 The art centre model generally describes Indigenous owned and operated enterprises that are located within Indigenous communities that facilitate the production and sale of Aboriginal art.2 Art centres were first established in the 1970s and traditionally provided a space and the materials to facilitate Aboriginal artists to produce art, market the artists to national and international art markets and facilitate the sale of the art. However, art centres have evolved to provide a wide range of essential functions to remote communities that extend far beyond the arts sector. Today, art centres such as Mowanjum Arts are cultural, economic and social centres of community life. Fundamentally, art centres rely on members of the local community or 'arts workers' to operate and support the everyday functioning of the organisation. The term arts worker is a broad umbrella term that is used to describe art centre related employment, without distinguishing the diverse range of job descriptions, levels of experience and career aspirations. This submission offers Mowanjum Arts as an example of a successful Aboriginal owned and operated enterprise that provides essential employment opportunities and training programs to remote communities. It will identify that arts worker employment can overcome identified barriers to Indigenous employment in remote communities and opportunities for diversification and growth in arts worker roles. Mowanjum Arts submits its recommendation that increasing funding allocated to one-on-one training and mentorship will build the capacity of art centres to provide meaningful employment and long term career progression. We share stories of arts workers from Mowanjum Arts who have benefited from such training programs and demonstrate the positive personal and community impacts of meaningful employment. 3. MOWANJUM ARTS Mowanjum Arts is a purpose built facility that provides a space for the continued cultural and ceremonial practices of the Worrorra, Ngarinyin and Wunumbal tribes. The three tribes of the Mowanjum community are united by their belief in the Wandjina as a sacred spiritual force and the creators of the land. They are the custodians of Wandjina law and iconography. Our facilities include a studio space, gallery, culture keeping place, and multi-media studio. Every year Mowanjum Arts welcomes over 20,000 visitors. We are a crucial institution to our community and exist in a 'hybrid economy'3 whereby community members can access the mainstream market on the terms of our local customary system. The success of Mowanjum Arts is correlative to the cultural strength and health of its community. (a) Maintenance and keeping of Culture Mowanjum Arts plays an important role in the maintenance and renewal of local culture, promoting the intergenerational transmission of stories of law, creation and 1 Department of Communications and the Arts, Indigenous Visual Arts Industry Support Program Guidelines, IVAIS program guidelines. 2 Norris R 2001, Australian Indigenous Employment Disadvantage: What, why and where to from here?, Journal of Economic and Social Policy, https://epubs.scu.edu.au/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1015&context=jesp. 3 Russel S 2011, The Hybrid Economy Topic Guide, Centre for Aboriginal Economic Policy Research, https://caepr.cass.anu.edu.au/sites/default/files/docs/2018/7/Hybrid_Economy_Topic_Guide_1.pdf 3 culture.4 The art centre hosts exhibitions, language workshops, community projects, and the annual Mowanjum Festival which is one of Australia's longest running Indigenous cultural festivals, sharing with visitors and future generations the vibrant, living culture of the Ngarinyin, Worrorra and Wunambal peoples. In addition, Mowanjum Arts is active in organising artist and community trips to country which facilitate the ongoing maintenance and strengthening of spirit, language and connection to land. Since 2015, Mowanjum Arts has been capacity building to establish a dedicated gallery and museum space to archive and exhibit the Mowanjum community's cultural capital. (b) Economic independence and income generation Mowanjum Arts generates income through the production and selling of artworks. Art works are created and exhibited within our purpose built studio and gallery space, and are either sold directly to visitors at the centre, through Mowanjum Art's online store or sold in galleries in Australia and all over the world. Like most other art centres, the revenue from art sales is divided between the art centre and artists. Art sales allow remote communities to challenge the traditional barriers of physical and economic exclusion from mainstream markets. (c) Social cohesion and identity Beyond providing a space for artistic and cultural pursuits, art centres strengthen local identities and social cohesion by demonstrating itself as an example of a successful social enterprise that is community owned and operated. Mowanjum Artists have exhibited nationally and internationally, including featuring artist Donny Woolagoodja's work, the giant Namarali Wandjina, in the opening ceremony of the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games. Woolagoodja's work proudly presented to the international arena Mowanjum culture and iconography as central to the Australian identity. 4 Senate Standing Committee on Environment 2007, Communications and the Arts, Indigenous Art – Securing the Future – Australia's Indigenous visual arts and craft sector. 4 Image: Donny Woolagoodjah (d) Mowanjum Arts supports ethical tourism The Mowanjum community is located at the beginning of the well-known Gibb River Road track and attracts both domestic and international tourists. Mowanjum Arts functions as an information centre for visitors coming through to explore the rich cultural heritage and unique landscape of the north eastern Kimberley. 4. THE ARTS WORKER ROLE, FUTURE GROWTH AREAS AND CHALLENGES TO EMPLOYMENT Employment opportunities which are not specifically designed to suit community needs will not deliver positive employment outcomes for the community or employees.5 Fortunately, art centres are uniquely placed to provide arts worker employment which is empowered, contextually relevant and consistent with performance of cultural practices and connection to Country. Fundamentally arts workers are able to carry out employment obligations within community and operate in a space that straddles both mainstream and customary worldviews. The 'Desert Perspectives Report' finds that arts worker
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