Impressions from art at the heart in Alice Springs. Thank you to the documentation team: Dave Nixon, Shane Mulcahy, Pip McManus, Joyce van Dijk, Pam French, James Spiers, Curtis Mariott, Ben Foley, Tristam Malbunka, Suzi Taylor and Vincent Lamberti. |
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Program and Speakers
art at the heart presented a dynamic program of visual and performing arts, vital discussions and exchanges about the country’s artistic life, with a particular focus on regional Australia. The program explored the key themes identified by Regional Arts Australia as significant to the development of the arts for the one-in-three Australians that live in regional, rural and remote parts of the country.
Opening Ceremony - Thursday 2 October
The Hon Peter Garrett AM MP, Minister for Environment, Heritage and the Arts [Podcast]
Marion Scrymgour, Minister for Arts and Museums, Northern Territory Government [Podcast]
Suzie Haslehurst, President Regional Arts Australia
Damien Ryan, Mayor of Alice Springs [Podcast]
Doris Stuart and Elaine Peckham, local custodians [Podcast]
Opening Adress - Friday 3 October
Suzie Haslehurst, President Regional Arts Australia [Podcast]
Lyn Allen, Executive Director Environment, Heritage and the Arts, Northern Territopry Government [Podcast]
Kathy Keele, CEO Australia Council for the Arts [Podcast]
Plenary session - Place and Identity - Friday 3 October
The first plenary session presented a diverse spectrum of Aboriginal speakers who explored how their identity is connected to country and place. Australia’s Aboriginal community are the descendents of Indigenous people who have inhabited the Australian continent for over fifty thousand years, long before the federation of the Australian nation. Throughout their history, Aboriginal people have used various forms of artistic expression to mark places of spiritual and cultural significance and to pass knowledge from generation to generation. These speakers relate their own perception of how performance, storytelling, sculpture, painting, ceramics, fibre and ceremonial objects connect with their personal identity and culture.
Harold Furber
Djambawa Marawili [Podcast]
Kathleen Kemarre Wallace
Margaret Kemarre Turner OAM [Podcast]
Tom E Lewis [Podcast]
Plenary Session - Sustaining participation in the arts - Saturday 4 October
Artsupport Australia: Difference of Opinion: is philanthropy the solution?
High profile panellists with strong connections to the arts will discuss and debate whether philanthropy is the most effective means to tackle sustainability of arts and culture in regional Australia, especially focusing on Indigenous philanthropy. The session’s aim is to be provocative, and together with the mix of experienced and inspiring panellists and facilitator, is sure to achieve this.
Presenters: Jeff McMullen (facilitator) presenter of ABC TV’s Difference of Opinion and former acclaimed Sixty Minutes journalist and trustee of Ian Thorpe’s Fountain for Youth Foundation; Jill Reichstein OAM Chair of the Reichstein Foundation and advocate of social change philanthropy. She is one of Australia’s best known, most active and respected philanthropists; Neil Balnaves Founder of the Balnaves Foundation, a charitable trust which invests more than $2 million annually to support the fields of medicine and the arts. Neil will be joined by his daughter and fellow trustee, Alex Honor; Helen Lynch AM Chairman of the Westpac Foundation and the Westpac Staff Superannuation Plan and an advisor to Mallesons Stephen Jaques. Helen has always been committed to the community, serving as director of a number of arts, charitable and government organisations.
Plenary Session – Culture, Creativity and Everyday Democracy: The need for greater promiscuity in the years to come - Saturday 4 October
Keynote speaker Peter Jenkinson OBE has worked for over 20 years in the cultural sector, passionately advocating and acting for deep and lasting change across the cultural and political landscape. In his current role as an independent 'cultural broker' he works across a diverse portfolio of disciplines and sectors including broadcasting, public policy, regeneration, museums and galleries, and leadership development. Prior to this Peter has had a distinguished and award-winning career working across the arts and culture, including his role as founding director of the Creative Partnerships programme and the initiation and delivery of the world-class £21M The New Art Gallery Walsall.
Plenary Session - Creativity, innovation and change - Sunday 5 October
Keynote speaker Anne Dunn has a consulting practice in facilitation, mediation, community consultation and organisational development. Ms Dunn is a former chair of the Community Cultural Development Board (CCDB) of the Australia Council, and has a career that spans 30 years in community arts and community cultural development. Formerly CEO of the City of Port Phillip in Victoria, her public service career in South Australia and the Northern Territory has included the positions of Commissioner, Public Service Board; Director-General of the Department of Local Government; and CEO of the departments of Arts and Cultural Heritage and Family and Community Services. She remains a practising community artist.
Closing Ceremony - Sunday 5 October
Suzie Haslehurt - President Regional Arts Australia [Podcast]
Karl Hamton - Minister for Regional Development, Northern Territory Government [Podcast]
Michael Wells - Director Heritage and the Arts, Nothern Territory Government [Podcast]
Kieren Sanderson - Conference Coordinator and Artistic Director, Arts NT, Northern Territory Government [Podcast]
Lee Cole - President of Tasmanian Regional Arts [Podcast]
Karlee Foster- Tasmanian Regional Arts [Podcast]
Podcasts for the conference sessions
Friday 3 October I Saturday 4 October
Information about the presenters for each conference session is listed here
The program was identified by the following themes:
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Place and identity
Storytelling is as old as human existence. Since ancient times it has been humankinds' way of connecting place and self. In the Central Desert region around Alice Springs, storytelling has been a central means of educating, entertaining and passing on the traditional stories of rich and complex cultures. Explore how the arts help explain and create a sense of place and identity in cultures across the world and how this connection influences policymakers, communities and individuals. |
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Arts partnerships, collaborations and exchanges
These days, being successful as an arts professional usually depends on negotiating relationships across education, justice, health, heritage, tourism and the environment. Not to mention the all too important partnerships with government, business and the philanthropic sectors. Making those relationships work for you means understanding differing business and cultural practices. The outcome is often a more dynamic and successful way of doing business. How are some smaller towns in regional Australia establishing themselves as vibrant cultural centres and how are those involved building those all-too vital community partnerships? |
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Sustaining participation in the arts
How important are bricks and mortar in sustaining the arts in regional and remote Australia? Is decent infrastructure essential to sustaining a flourishing locally-produced arts scene and/or attracting in product from elsewhere? What can you do to sustain a vibrant arts economy in your community and how do you bring in young people and provide them with skills and opportunities that keep them connected and can take them places? How do you keep older people engaged and keen to volunteer? How can successfully communicating your message help the policymakers get it right?
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Creativity, innovation and change
Policymakers now realise that the arts are about more than having a good time. They are being widely recognised as a measure of community health and a tool to improve and even save lives. Share in some practical strategies about how the arts serve as a vehicle to address disadvantage. Discover how they are creating inspiring new work and new ways of working - as well as providing fun and entertainment. |
The Cheeky Dog icons are drawn by Dion Beasley, a young Aboriginal boy in Tennant Creek who is profoundly deaf and has Muscular Dystrophy. He uses drawing to communicate and to depict the many dogs that frequent the community. www.cheekydogs.com.au
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Latest News
The report for the art at the heart - 2008 Regional Arts Australia national conference is now available for download following this link.
Important dates for your diary: Regional Arts Australia's seventh national biennial conference - .... a cool change is coming- will be held in Launceston,Tasmania, from 27-29 August 2010.
Thank you to all involved in art at the heart, prior and after, and all that came to Alice Springs to participate.
Become a virtual friend of art at the heart on MySpace and Facebook.
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