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. 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. 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

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.

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.

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 employment is highly valued by employees, socially, professionally and socially.6 Over one third of arts workers interviewed found that their work was highly valued and provided both tangible and intangible benefits. One interviewee responded that 'I became a strong and better person, it is where I want to be, my family look up and want to be like me, it makes me proud.'7

5 Altman J 2014, Rethinking the Black Jobs Dilemma, Tracking Indigenous Policy 2011 – 2014.

6 Acker T & Congreve S 2016, Desert perspectives – Aboriginal arts workers in remote art centres, Volume: CR013, Report, http://www.nintione.com.au/?p=2537.

7 Ibid.

Another respondent described 'new ideas, especially when we travel and share ideas with other arts centres and showcase to kids what our ladies are doing.'8

Arts workers are fundamental to the operation of our art centre. At Mowanjum Arts we are proud to provide a range of employment opportunities that are suitable to a variety of skill levels. Typically arts workers may be engaged in art centre maintenance, studio assistance, managing artist stock, stretching canvases, cataloguing artwork and maintaining digital databases and archives. Arts workers who have received further training are engaged in community liaison roles such as "Art development Coordinator" or project management and curatorial roles such as "Digital Media Coordinator".

By supporting arts workers at different stages of their careers, Mowanjum Arts has seen the positive benefits of community members finding sustainable economic independence and autonomy that addresses some of the shortcomings of Community Development Employment or Work for the Dole programs.

4.1 Future growth areas

Art centres have evolved from traditionally paint art making practices to multi-disciplinary creative hubs that produce multi-media artworks and ancillary products. The Association of Northern, Kimberley and Arnhem Aboriginal Artists and Desart emphasise the role digital technology can have in redefining and reducing the physical exclusion of remote communities from mainstream markets.9

The arts worker role has similarly evolved to offer a range of employment opportunities suitable to different interests and skill sets. At Mowanjum Arts, technology has opened up a plethora of career paths including roles in photo and multi-media, sound, digital archiving, content creation and social media management. We are committed to promoting the growth opportunities within this space.

The Dolord Mindi Space or "the Cave" project is an example of a growth sector for digitally skilled arts worker employment.

"Dolord is a deep cave, it is where people would traditionally shelter and store things for safe keeping. Art can be found in the Dolord, as well as stories and language that echo through the space. This knowledge resonates with those who are listening and those who carry it out onto the land."

The Dolord Mindi Space is a project to archive and preserve records which contains the community controlled Mowanjum Community Collection and Media database. It allows community and future generations to explore and deepen cultural knowledge, language and law through an interactive digital experience. In addition to managing the archiving and preservation of cultural records, arts workers within the Digital Collection Trainees program create new digital narratives and media stories through various multi-media forms such as photographs, videos, sound recordings, object information.

4.2 Challenges to employment of arts workers

The largest barrier for art centres providing arts worker employment is the limited vocational training available to remote communities. Individuals seeking employment for the first time need the support of intensive training programs to establish basic workplace expectations. Arts workers at Mowanjum Arts may be young people who have completed their year 10 studies, or have little to no formal work experience. On the other hand,

8 Ibid.

9 Desart 2018, The Desart Art Centre Guidebook, https://desart.com.au/wp-content/uploads/sites/40/Desart_guidebook_e- version_2018.pdf.

employees who are excelling in existing roles must also be mentored and challenged with opportunities to develop new skills that are essential for career progression.

Art centres such as Mowanjum Arts have limited resources that cover the core function and operation costs of running the enterprise. Mowanjum Arts receives operational funding from the Department of Communications and the Arts through the Indigenous Visual Arts Industry Support program (IVAIS). Operational funding allows us to cover operational costs including employment of arts workers to support the everyday functions of our art centre. Supplementary to this, funding may result from successful application for grant moneys for one off projects such as "Yalmin" which worked with the Wunambal people to reinvigorate the cultural practices of bark harvesting and painting. In the year 2019-2020, Mowanjum Arts received operational funding of $420,000.10 This is a significant reduction from the $614,304 funding received in 2015-16 and represents a 32% reduction in IVAIS grants over the past 5 years. The steep decrease in funding has serious implications for the services our organisation provides and has impacted on Mowanjum Arts' ability to hire and provide training to arts workers. Nonetheless art centres must stretch these resources to also provide training to arts workers where community and social services such as vocational training are lacking. Reduced capacity to train and mentor staff has unsurprisingly resulted in lower levels of staff retention and engagement.

5. MOWANJUM STORIES OF SUCCESS

Mowanjum Arts is a successful community based enterprise that employs [4] full time, [3] part time and [3] casual arts workers from our local community. Mowanjum Arts has provided members of our community with long-term employment that has resulted in a range of positive outcomes at an individual and community level. We share two stories of Mowanjum Arts arts workers who have contributed significantly to the ongoing success of our art centre.

(a) Stanley

Stanley has been an employee at the art centre for 10 years, and he has worked his way up from being a casual cleaner to a full-time senior staff member with the title of Exhibitions Coordinator.

Two years ago he was predominantly cataloguing artworks, but after working with him, discovering his career interests and observing his strengths, he has moved into a more curatorial role. He started by curating the large gallery space at the art centre, before being gaining the opportunity to curate a small selection of works at the Art Gallery of Western Australia for the Desert River Sea show. Together we successfully put forward an application for him to be a curator of the Revealed exhibition at the Fremantle Arts Centre earlier this year. In this role, Stanley will curate works from 120 of the most promising emerging Aboriginal artists in Western Australia across paint, print, carved objects, photo, textile, video and weaving mediums.

While in Perth, Stanley spent a day with the staff at the Berndt Museum, curating a small selection of photographic prints to show for the Stockyards and Saddles exhibition that was touring to Mowanjum Arts. Berndt Museum staff worked with him one-on-one throughout the process. Over the next year, Stanley will have the opportunity to work with Museums Victoria on a large scale exhibition that spans across the Kimberley.

10 IVAIS 2019, 2019-2020 Funding Recipients – Indigenous Visual Arts Industry Support Program, https://www.arts.gov.au/documents/2019-2020-funding-recipients-indigenous-visual-arts-industry-support-ivais- program.

Mowanjum Arts is proud to have supported Stanley's professional journey. Mowanjum Arts staff were able to identify and foster Stanley's interest and flair for curatorial management and we were able to use existing partnerships with institutions in regional and metropolitan regions to open up opportunities for Stanley to achieve his professional development goals. We are immensely proud of Stanley's journey so far and are very excited for Stanley's future.

(b) Cecilia

Cecilia is a Worrorra woman who has worked at the art centre for about 5 years and spent much of her childhood at the art centre surrounded by senior artists. At only 21, Cecilia was managing the art studio as Studio Coordinator at Mowanjum Arts Centre. Her role entailed mixing paints, ordering and managing art supply stock and maintaining the studio space. Cecilia identified that the art centre needed to recruit the next generation of artists and showed great enthusiasm in spearheading this project. Cecilia was given the role of Youth Art Development Coordinator, which gave her responsibility for running youth-focused workshops and activities, managing a small budget, and identifying new talent for the art centre. This role has allowed Cecilia to develop confidence, demonstrate herself to be a leader in the community and provided her with immense satisfaction from contributing positively to her community.

In this role Cecilia has strengthened our engagement with community and built invaluable relationships between younger members of community and Mowanjum Arts.

6. RECOMMENDATIONS – FUNDING FOR ARTS WORKER TRAINING

Mowanjum Arts welcomes the government's continued support of art centres, while calling on it to increase funding for flexible training for art centres so they can adequately provide essential professional development services to Indigenous Australians seeking employment in remote communities. The Australian Government must recognise that art centres have proven to be long term successful enterprises despite operating within some of the most remote and extreme environments. By building upon the art centres' unique position to provide contextually relevant and localised employment to remote communities, Government has the opportunity to achieve long-term positive Indigenous employment outcomes.

Mowanjum Arts is committed to supporting the next generation of Indigenous leaders. Allocated funding (external to the operational funding of art centres) for the purpose of providing vocational training programs can provide to arts workers:

• One-on-one training and mentorship;

• Training programs that are delivered in situ and curriculum that recognises the unique context of employment in remote communities;

• Trainers that are cross-culturally trained and sensitive to cultural, social and spiritual practice;

• Training that caters to the specific needs and interests of individual arts workers and provides opportunities for further study that is appropriate to various skill levels;

• Apprentice programs, industry and institutional engagement with partner organisations such as with partnership galleries, museums and universities; and

• Broker professional development opportunities between network of central desert and Kimberley art centres.

Increased capacity to train and empower arts worker employment can result in a wide range of employment offerings. Roles associated with art production and sales include:

• Curatorial and exhibition management;

• Archiving and cataloguing;

• Gallery correspondence and relationship management;

• Arts storage, handling and conservation;

In addition, arts worker employment can support the art centre's ancillary social and community functions through the following roles:

• Book-keeping and accounting;

• Information technology;

• Corporate governance;

• Business management;

• Protection of intellectual property;

• Arts sales;

• Film making and multi-media;

• Grant writing;

• E-business; and

• Human resources management.

Mowanjum Arts emphasises that culturally and contextually relevant training is proven to be the most successful way of achieving employee engagement, workplace satisfaction and workforce retention.

Mowanjum Arts submits that Government must support capacity building of art centres to provide training programs and career progression opportunities to Indigenous people in remote areas. This will result in long term and meaningful employment in remote communities that is compatible with the practice and maintenance of cultural customs.

Mowanjum Arts thanks the Government for the opportunity to provide a response to this inquiry, and welcomes further discussions about the ways that the art centre model can provide pathways and participation opportunities for Indigenous Australians in employment and business.

Ella Doonan Mowanjum Aboriginal Art & Culture Centre

PO Box 252 Derby WA 6728