Desert Harmony: Exploring the Cultural, Social, and Economic Value of a Multi-Arts Festival in the Remote Barkly Region

Abstract

This article examines the role that the arts sector plays in supporting and sustaining communities in one of Australia’s remotest regions, the Barkly (Northern Territory). Drawing on findings from a three-year Australian Research Council Linkage project, ‘Creative Barkly’, the article outlines how artistic and creative activities in very remote regions, such as the Barkly, constitute significant cultural, social, and economic value. To illustrate this, the article explores one such example, the annual Desert Harmony Festival, run by Barkly Regional Arts. This example demonstrates how an event such as this can provide a site of diverse intercultural expression that promotes both social and economic linkages and networks and generates cultural vitality in the region.

Acknowledgements

We would like to thank our partners Barkly Regional Arts and Regional Development Australia NT, as well as all the community members who participated in this research.

Notes

1 According to the 2016 Census, the population distribution is: Tennant Creek, 3252; Ali Curung, 494; Ampilatwatja, 418; Elliott, 339; Imangara, 69; Newcastle Waters, 64; and Epenarra, 195.

2 For example, for a number of years, linguist Samantha Disbray has worked with Warumungu Traditional Owner Rosemary Plummer and local women to showcase the Warumungu language in various interactive installations at the festival (see Disbray and Martin 2018)

3 Certain words, like ‘Country’, ‘Elder’, and ‘Community’, are capitalized when related to Indigenous People(s) and Communities, as a form of respect. The term ‘Indigenous’ and ‘First Nations’ People(s), where used, relates to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander People(s), and is capitalized to demonstrate the short form for the proper nouns, ‘Indigenous Australian’, and ‘First Nations’ or First Nations’ People(s)’ (O’Sullivan 2019).

4 This was particularly important as the research team was located 2500 km away in South-East Queensland.

5 The Community Development Program is the Australian Government’s remote employment and community development program which, according to the Government, aims to support job seekers in remote Australia to build skills, address barriers and contribute to their communities through a range of flexible activities. Community Development Program participants are expected to complete up to twenty hours per week of work-like activities that benefit their community (Australian Government 2019).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Brydie-Leigh Bartleet

Professor Brydie-Leigh Bartleet is an Australian Research Council Future Fellow and Professor at the Queensland Conservatorium Research Centre and Creative Arts Research Institute at Griffith University (Australia). She is one of the world’s leading community music scholars whose research has advanced our understanding of the cultural, social, economic, and educational benefits of music and the arts in First Nations’ Communities, prisons, war affected cities, educational and industry contexts. She has worked on six nationally competitive grants (from the Australian Research Council and Australian Government Office for Learning & Teaching), seven research consultancies with leading arts and social sector organisations, and five prestigious fellowships (from the Australian Research Council, Fulbright Commission, Singapore International Foundation, University of Cambridge and Australian Academy of the Humanities) totalling well over $3 million. She is the President of the Social Impact of Music Making (SIMM) international research platform (2021–2024) and Associate Editor of the International Journal of Community Music. She has served as Director of the Queensland Conservatorium Research Centre (2015–2021) and Deputy Director (Research) of the Queensland Conservatorium Griffith University (2016–2021). In 2014 she was awarded the Australian University Teacher of the Year, and in 2022 she will be a Fulbright Scholar at New York University Steinhardt (awarded 2020).

Email: [email protected]

Naomi Sunderland

Associate Professor Naomi Sunderland is an Australian Research Council Discovery Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Award Fellowship holder (2021–2014) studying the effects of Australian First Nations’ music on social and cultural determinants of health. Naomi is located across the School of Health Sciences and Social Work and the Queensland Conservatorium Research Centre at Griffith University, Australia. She is a descendant of the Wiradjuri First Nations’ People of Australia. Naomi has an extensive research and publishing record in anti-colonial, participatory, creative, place-based, and community-based research in the areas of arts-health, well-being, First Nations’ social justice, and arts-based development. Naomi has taught in the First Peoples and Social Justice team at Griffith University and specializes in topics concerning transformative intercultural and immersive education, arts health, health determinants, equity, and anti-oppressive practice. She has a PhD in applied ethics and human rights from the Queensland University of Technology.

Email: [email protected]

Sarah Woodland

Dr Sarah Woodland is a researcher, practitioner, and educator in applied theatre and community engaged arts. She has over twenty-five years’ experience in the arts and cultural sectors in Australia and the UK, with a particular focus on role of performing arts in social justice and well-being. Sarah has taught theatre to undergraduate and postgraduate students, and was a Research Fellow on the ARC Linkage Project ‘Creative Barkly’ (2016–2019), led by Queensland Conservatorium Research Centre (QCRC), Griffith University, Australia. She is a Chief Investigator on the project ‘Listening to Country: Exploring the Value of Acoustic Ecology with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Women in Prison’ (funded by the Lowitja Institute in 2017 and supported by QCRC). She has numerous scholarly publications on theatre and performance, and has collaborated with diverse communities and groups on creative research projects in theatre, audio drama and soundscape. Sarah is currently Dean’s Research Fellow in the Faculty of Fine Arts and Music, University of Melbourne, where she is leading a portfolio of research investigating role of theatre in criminal justice and health contexts.

Email: [email protected]

Sandy O’Sullivan

Professor Sandy O’Sullivan is a Wiradjuri, transgender academic in the Department of Indigenous Studies at Macquarie University, Australia. They work across creative practice, gender and queer studies, the body, and in the field of Critical Race. As a part of their work with the Centre for Global Indigenous Futures, they are carrying out a four-year Australian Research Council Future Fellowship on queer Indigenous creative practice: ‘Saving Lives, mapping the influence of LGBTIQ + Creative Artists’. In recent years, Sandy completed a multi-year review of First Nations representation and engagement in national museum spaces, and a review of First Nations dance and theatre for the Australia Council for the Arts.

Email: [email protected]