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Abstract
Since the 1970s, there has been a fraught yet hopeful Aboriginal cultural resurgence in Australia. An element of this movement has been the establishment of Aboriginal art centres and cultural centres across Australia. Using a comparative approach to Aboriginal art centres, this paper analyses the appearance and characteristics of the more recent Aboriginal cultural centres. The methods used are a review of the literature on Aboriginal art centres, and for the less-researched Aboriginal cultural centres, a case study. This paper posits that cultural centre characteristics are shaped through the formation of alliances made possible by the advent of land rights, an Aboriginal cultural turn amongst Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal people, and changing approaches to regional development. While not themselves a movement that will lead to socio-economic change, these types of arts and heritage projects are aligned to such movements. With a larger scale and more central locations, Aboriginal cultural centres open up opportunities for larger and more diverse alliances, and therefore new opportunities for Aboriginal people’s participation, activism and expression.
Acknowledgements
The authors would like to thank the staff, Board and Indigenous Reference Group of Gwoonwardu Mia, as well as other participants, for their time, information and opinions on the establishment and operation of Gwoonwardu Mia Aboriginal Heritage and Cultural Centre. This research made use of the funding provided by Curtin University for a Targeted Research Fellowship.
Notes
1. This includes one Torres Strait Island cultural centre on Thursday Island, Gab Titui. A more detailed survey is needed to accurately ascertain numbers.
2. Clifford following Fienup-Riordan (Citation2000, p. 167) calls heritage ‘self conscious tradition’ (2004, p. 6). I prefer a similar definition from geography: ‘the contemporary use of the past’ (Graham et al. Citation2000, p. 2).
3. It is important to note the previous discussion about the relationship of heritage and cultural initiatives to social, economic, educational, political and health initiatives when using the term ‘resurgence’.
4. Most recently, increasing the supply of labour, skills and Indigenous participation was a key plank of the National Long Term Tourism Strategy.
5. While this area is generally referred to as Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander policy, here I use the term Aboriginal policy as Torres Strait Islanders have not been included in my research or this case study.
6. The largest and most public initiative of this policy approach was a 2007 Federal policy to take control of 73 Aboriginal communities in the Northern Territory following a report into the sexual abuse of Aboriginal children, including measures to ban alcohol and pornography and quarantine welfare payments. This is colloquially known as the Northern Territory Intervention, and is based on the Northern Territory National Emergency Response Act Citation2007.
7. In doing this many fertile areas in need of further study were set aside including: the creation and content of heritage displays in cultural centres; analysis of art movements in cultural centres; and the cultural policy and politics of cultural centre performance venues.
8. These are Desart for central Australia, the Association of Northern, Kimberley and Arnhem Aboriginal Artists, Umiarts in Far North Queensland, the Arts Centre Hub of Western Australia, and most recently the Indigenous Art Centre Alliance in Far North Queensland.
9. This covered people with a range of engagement including: board members, Indigenous Reference Group members, past and present employees, key people who were involved at the beginning of establishing Gwoonwardu Mia artists , employees of the key funding body, and people involved with the training programs.
10. The Yamatji region overlaps with the Gascoyne region, which is the settler name for the area covering the Shires of Shark Bay, Carnarvon, Exmouth and Upper Gascoyne, approximately 700 km north of the capital city of Perth.
11. The Royalties for Regions scheme aims to return 25% of the State’s mining and petroleum royalties to regional areas.
12. This included a meeting facilitated by Fred Chaney in November 2005.
13. The quotations are in the original, indicating its basis in the Objects of Association.
14. Maryanne Albrook and Malcolm Jebb.
15. The design of the display is fascinating, and is worthy of an article in itself. I limit myself here to a broad observation.
16. It should be noted that later Aboriginal art centres are not always Aboriginal owned. For instance, Martu Mili, founded in 2006, comes under the auspices of the Shire of East Pilbara. Nyinkka Nyunyu Art and Culture Centre, on the other hand, is owned by the Julalikari Council Aboriginal Corporation.
17. It is worth noting that land claim legislation in Australia has limited the land that Aboriginal people can lay claim to (Povinelli Citation1993), and hence also potentially limited the resources that subsequently flow to regional development.