Link to South Australia’s Strategic Plan Objectives Improved management and use of arts, culture and heritage assets will contribute towards the achievement of the following targets: Objective 1: Growing Prosperity Tourism industry Increase visitor expenditure in South Australia’s tourism industry from $3.4 billion in 2001 to $5.0 billion by 2008. (T1.13) Strategic infrastructure Increase investment in strategic areas of infrastructure, such as transport, ports and energy to support and achieve the targets in South Australia’s Strategic Plan. (T1.16) ARTS, CULTURE AND HERITAGE ARTS, CULTURE Objective 2: Improving Wellbeing Quality of life Improve Adelaide’s quality of life ranking on the William M. Mercer Quality of Life index to be in the top 20 cities in the world within 10 years. (T2.1) Objective 4: Fostering Creativity Creativity Achieve a ranking in the top 3 regions of Australia in Richard Florida’s Creativity Index within 10 years. (T4.1) Film, television, audiovisual Signifi cantly grow and expand South Australia’s share of the and digital content national feature fi lm industry to match our population share. (T4.3) Creative education Improve learning outcomes in the arts and other curriculum areas that utilise enterprise education. (T4.9) Objective 5: Building Communities Regional infrastructure Build and maintain infrastructure to develop and support sustainable communities in regions. (T5.11) 100 BUILDING SOUTH AUSTRALIA - INFRASTRUCTURE Background Arts, culture and heritage play a signifi cant role in expressing South Australia has a major investment in its cultural the state’s character; cultural richness; and the attributes infrastructure, which includes assets such as the nationally Arts, Culture And Heritage South Australians have in common – ideas, values, sentiments recognised collections at the Art Gallery of South Australia, and traditions. South Australian Museum, State Library, Artlab facilities, History Trust museums, Tandanya, South Australian Film The arts and cultural industries in South Australia include: Corporation and the colonial building stock. fi lm, television and multimedia production; radio broadcasting; recording; fi lm distribution and exhibition; These assets together with organisations such as Arts SA, dance, music, opera and theatre; museums and galleries; Adelaide Festival Centre, Country Arts SA, Australian String design; visual arts and crafts; writing; journalism; publishing; Quartet, Heritage SA and many others enable South Australia community arts; libraries; public art; heritage conservation to: services and built heritage. Initiate and present major events, such as the Adelaide Festival of Ideas, the Adelaide Film Festival, the Ring Over many decades, South Australia has been at the forefront Cycle, WOMAD and Adelaide Festival of Arts. in the arts and been renowned for the calibre of its artists, the Provide free access to world-class art, natural history, excellence of their work, the quality of the arts infrastructure ethnographic, social history and reference collections. and dynamic events. Present a diversity of live performance – in music, dance and drama. The physical infrastructure that underpins arts and cultural Provide heritage conservation services nationally and activity in South Australia includes a wide variety of buildings, internationally. spaces and venues; equipment; museum collections and their heritage buildings, which are some of South Australia’s most valuable assets. The combined value of the collections housed in the Art Gallery of South Australia, the South Australian Museum and the State Library alone is approximately $689 million. Visitor numbers to these cultural institutions are increasing. The redeveloped State Library has had more than one million visitors since reopening in October 2003, and approximately one million visitors per annum visit the museum and art gallery. Tourism statistics show that mature age visitor growth in South Australia over the next 30 years will double from 5.5 million in 2001 to more than 10 million by 2031. Cultural events are of strong interest to this mature-age growth market. 101 Challenges and Opportunities The report also suggested that signifi cant government-owned heritage places (e.g. the Old Adelaide Gaol, Carrick Hill, Ayers Adelaide Botanic Gardens House and Martindale Hall) be managed and operated by Botanic gardens have a long history of aesthetic, economic, a single organisation. This would allow South Australia to scientifi c and educational contribution to society. The realise the full potential of these places as major tourism Adelaide Botanic Gardens is no exception – its extensive living attractions. and herbarium collection makes it one of the most visited cultural attractions in the state, with more than a million In addition, the tourism industry could leverage the state’s visitors each year. heritage assets through the development of a cultural and natural heritage tourism identity that provides interpretation Founded in 1855 as an expression of the era, the Adelaide and visitor experiences for interstate and international Botanic Gardens’ development occurred during the tourists. settlement of the state, when there was a prime focus on evaluating plants of economic and ornamental benefi t. A new Proper conservation and management of Adelaide’s heritage vision is now being developed for the gardens in response to assets will also contribute to the city’s liveability and quality changes in society and the changing role of botanic gardens of life – its vibrancy, aesthetic beauty and reputation as a ARTS, CULTURE AND HERITAGE ARTS, CULTURE in general. This vision is expressed in a Site Master Plan centre for the arts. developed for the Adelaide Botanic Gardens and the Mount Lofty Botanic Gardens. While the objectives remain centred on education, research and recreation, the focus is now on plant Strategic Priorities conservation and sustainability. The gardens also contribute to research and education through the living and herbarium Maximise economic and social benefi ts through collections. improved conservation and management strategies for the state’s heritage assets. The implementation of the Site Master Plan will require Develop a 10-year management plan to ensure the best the redevelopment and reinvigoration of the cultural practice conservation and maintenance of the state’s and heritage assets within the Adelaide Botanic Gardens. heritage and cultural assets under the control of Arts SA In addition, there will need to be a focus on new ways . of managing its assets and researching and interpreting collections. Strategic Priority Achieve the vision for the Adelaide and Mount Lofty Botanic Gardens. Managing and Making the Best Use of Heritage Assets In total, there are more than 300 government-owned heritage places in the State Heritage Register, spread across South Australia and managed by various state agencies. ‘Heritage directions: a future for built heritage in South Australia identifi ed a number of issues in maintaining and capitalising on these heritage assets. In particular, the report advocated a review, of the ‘best long-term management strategies for state-owned heritage buildings’. 102 BUILDING SOUTH AUSTRALIA - INFRASTRUCTURE Collection Storage Facilities To maintain their competitive edge and use emerging Only a small percentage of South Australia’s art and cultural technologies, the creative industries need to have reliable and collections are on public display. Appropriate storage that widespread broadband coverage throughout the state. will ensure the preservation of the cultural material has been Arts, Culture And Heritage identifi ed by all arts collecting institutions, as a business The issue of access to collections could be addressed by sustainability issue. Currently these storage facilities are establishing a virtual online platform to link and enhance provided through a mix of leased and owned premises, access to the entire collections (including the world’s largest some of which do not provide the environmental controls to and most signifi cant collection of Australian Indigenous conserve the collections. As well, there is insuffi cient space to artefacts; major collections of Australian, British and Asian adequately store the collections and to absorb future growth. art; and the general and specialist reference collections of the State Library) of the three major cultural institutions on North Terrace. Online access to collections and databases is one of Strategic Priority the main issues for all of Australia’s cultural institutions and is being variously addressed. Develop a strategy to identify options for improving storage facilities and opportunities to better display and South Australian Film Industry use art and culture collections for improved tourism and South Australia has highly regarded fi lm, television and new educational/research outcomes. media industries. While its share of national industry income and employment is small, it has a strong track record for creativity and independent fi lm making. Regional Theatres Country Arts SA has embarked on a strategic plan to The South Australian Film Corporation (SAFC), currently upgrade the existing regional theatres in Whyalla, Mt housed at leased premises at Hendon, is reviewing its Gambier and Renmark. These theatres are important accommodation needs. venues for recreational and cultural activities for young people and families in these regions; they provide venues The digital media industries are emerging as a sector