Growing up across many worlds – the daily life of ‘In My Blood it Runs’

An important new film about Dujuan, a young Aboriginal boy living in Alice Springs in the centre of Australia, is both engaging and challenging, raising major issues about growing up Aboriginal in modern Australia. ‘In My Blood it Runs’ is a film for our troubled times, that tackles the challenges of a culturally divided country, but also finds the hope that this cultural diversity can offer us all for our overlapping futures.

The National Museum of Australia recently hosted a sold-out preview screening which I was lucky enough to buy a ticket for – one of the last available. Here's hoping the film will have a wider distribution. I'm still thinking about the film, but this is an initial personal response to seeing it, coloured by more than six years working in the Indigenous language and culture programs of the Australian Government. The film unfolds slowly, capturing everyday life in Aboriginal communities in Alice Springs, and later in more remote Borroloola.

The opening frame of the film - with suggestions for action - above members of the discussion panel which followed the screening.

It doesn’t rush its story. It’s about everyday life, touching on everyday dramas and the everyday challenge of getting along. In a strange – and good – way, it's a bit like a family movie. Maya Newell, the Director of the film, commented that it was the result of hundreds of hours of filming, compressed to become the final story – and that pays off in a very powerful way. This is how we all experience the world. Hours of detail pass us by every single moment and are hardly noticed, but from them we sieve out the important things.

See also – indefinite articles in a definite world

I was losing track of the articles I have published to my 'indefinite article' blog over the last few years. For easy access, this is a summary of all 146 articles, broken down into categories. They range from the national cultural landscape to popular culture, from artists and arts organisations to cultural institutions, cultural policy and arts funding, creative industries, First Nations culture, cultural diversity, cities and regions, Australia society, government, Canberra and international issues – the whole range of contemporary Australian arts and culture.

1. Cultural landscape
2. Artists and arts organisations
3. Cultural institutions
4. Cultural policy
5. Arts funding
6. Cultural economy and creative industries
7. First Nations culture
8. Cultural diversity
9. Australian society
10. Cities and regions
11. Government
12. International
13. Canberra
14. Popular culture

15. About my blogs
16. Parallel universe

1. CULTURAL LANDSCAPE
Better than sport? The tricky business of valuing Australia’s arts and culture 
‘Understanding, assessing and communicating the broad value of arts and culture is a major and ongoing task. There has been an immense amount of work already carried out. The challenge is to understand some of the pitfalls of research and the mechanisms and motivations that underpin it. Research and evaluation is invaluable for all organisations but it is particularly important for Government. The experience of researching arts and culture in Government is of much broader relevance, as the arts and culture sector navigates the tricky task of building a comprehensive understanding in each locality of the broader benefits of arts and culture. The latest Arts restructure makes this even more urgent.’, Better than sport? The tricky business of valuing Australia’s arts and culture.

Crossing boundaries – the unlimited landscape of creativity
‘When I was visiting Paris last year, there was one thing I wanted to do before I returned home – visit the renowned French bakery that had trained a Melbourne woman who had abandoned the high stakes of Formula One racing to become a top croissant maker. She had decided that being an engineer in the world of elite car racing was not for her, but rather that her future lay in the malleable universe of pastry. Crossing boundaries of many kinds and traversing the borders of differing countries and cultures, she built a radically different future to the one she first envisaged’, Crossing boundaries – the unlimited landscape of creativity.

Creativity and culture in change: Change in creativity and culture 
‘A vast transformation of contemporary culture not seen since the breakdown of traditional arts and crafts in the industrial revolution is under way due to the impact of the digital and online environment. Artists, culture managers and cultural specialists today are confronted with radically different challenges and opportunities to those they faced in the 20th Century. There are a number of strategic forces which we need to take account of in career planning and in working in or running cultural organisations’, Presentation at ‘Creative and Cultural Futures: Leadership and Change’ – a symposium exploring the critical issues driving change in the creative and cultural sector, University of Canberra, October 2018, Creativity and culture in change: Change in creativity and culture.

Taking part – Arts involvement in a divided Australia
‘The arts and culture sector has long suffered from a shortage of high quality, useable research and statistics. This makes what is available doubly important as we argue the case for the central relevance of arts and culture and the broader social and economic impact of involvement. New research demonstrates the positive scale of involvement, views on importance and trends in participation in Australia’s arts and cultural life, especially hands on involvement. It also shows a worrying decline in engagement and recognition in recent years and points to the need for a more strategic view by government’, Taking part – Arts involvement in a divided Australia.

History all around us – the long term practical impact of cultural research

Cultural research has long term impacts in terms of our developing body of knowledge which stretch far into the future. Researchers are finding stories in our major cultural collections that were never envisaged by those originally assembling them – a process that will continue long into the future. The collections of our major cultural institutions are becoming increasingly accessible to the very people the collections are drawn from and reflect. In the process they are generating greater understanding about some of the major contemporary issues we face.

Recently I posted a notice about a forthcoming talk at the National Library of Australia by Paul Diamond, Curator, Māori, at the National Library of New Zealand. Paul has has been researching Australian, New Zealand and Pacific records in the collections of the National Library of Australia.

Curator Paul Diamond begins his talk in Te Reo Māori.

The talk turned out to be fascinating because there were so many overlapping topics and perspectives. The talk was being recorded, so hopefully the Library will make it available online for those who were unable to attend. While the talk was highly relevant to New Zealand and its history, it also alluded to some of the big contemporary issues affecting Australia.

Cross-Tasman collaboration
For a start a collaboration between the national libraries of two countries so interlinked was always going to be of interest. With the recent sister city relationship between the two capitals, Wellington and Canberra, already long-established partnerships are becoming much stronger.

Industries of the future help tell stories of the past – Weta at work in the shaky isles

After three weeks travelling round the North Island of New Zealand, I’ve had more time to reflect on the importance of the clean and clever industries of the future and the skilled knowledge workers who make them. In the capital, Wellington, instead of the traditional industries that once often dominated a town, like the railways or meatworks or the car plant or, in Tasmania, the Hydro Electricity Commission, there was Weta. It’s clear that the industries of the future can thrive in unexpected locations. Expertise, specialist skills and industry pockets can occur just about anywhere, as long as you have connectivity, talent and a framework of support that makes it possible. These skills which Weta depends on for its livelihood are also being used to tell important stories from the past.

I’ve just returned from a thoroughly enjoyable three week visit to the North Island of New Zealand. Despite landing only two days after a major 7.8 magnitude earthquake that produced long-lasting damage and thousands of aftershocks for several weeks afterwards, it was a country I felt very much at home in.

The big picture and the long view – creating a cultural future

The never-ending election campaign that became the never-ending election tally has turned into the unpredictable second term government. What does this new world of fragmented politics mean for Australian arts and culture and the organisations, artists and communities which live it and advance it? There are a series of major factors which are hammering arts and culture organisations. These intersect and mutually reinforce one another to produce a cumulative and compounding long term disastrous impact. All this is happening in a context where there is no strategic cultural policy or overview guiding the Government. It is critical for the future that the arts and culture sector think broadly about arts and culture, build wide-ranging alliances and partnerships, never forget its underlying values and draw on its inherent creativity to help create a society based firmly on arts and culture.

On the eve of Britain's entry into the First World War, British Foreign Secretary Sir Edward Grey remarked, ‘The lamps are going out all over Europe, we shall not see them lit again in our life-time’. They could as well have been uttered about World War 2, as fascism transformed Europe. In our times, as the world heads further and further towards the dead end offered by neo-liberalism and the racism and intolerance unleashed in the reaction against it, those words keep echoing in my head. As the whole world makes big choices, let’s hope we can avoid the slippery slope to a place we won’t like and certainly won't recognise – though our parents and grandparents might.

Arts and culture deals with fundamental values for our society and through its economic impact helps put food on the plate - it even designs the plate. The big picture and long view is crucial for its future.

The never-ending election campaign
The never-ending election campaign that became the never-ending election tally has turned into the unpredictable second term government – for some reason the word 'unrepeatable' springs to mind. If this is a mandate for much at all I’d hate to see what being told to piss off looks like.

Vote 1 Australian arts and culture – who is painting the big picture?

In this #AusVotesArts election Australians are voting on a great range of important issues. It could be a moment where we choose between the future and the past but it is never as simple as that. In this mix it’s all too easy for Australia’s arts and culture to come in second best – or probably more like third or fourth best, or worse. The problem is that while we have good solid policy offerings by those parties that actually have arts policies, no-one seems to be painting the big picture, one that threads arts and culture through the whole array of policies in an integrated way. This article is the second in a series of two about the arts policies of parties in this election. The first article, ‘Arts, culture and a map of the future – the limits of arts policy’, outlined what the various parties are offering – or not. This article considers what we need in a big policy that ties together all the disparate areas that arts and culture flows into.

The range of offerings from the political parties in this election that actually have arts policies are good and solid and valuable. If they were implemented they would lead to a definite and measurable improvement for Australian arts and culture. They are probably as good as we are going to get – and probably as good as we deserve unless we can somehow produce a deep change in popular views of the role and significance of arts and culture.

Looking from new Parliament House back to old Parliament House. Are our potential contenders for government looking forwards - or back?

Comprehensive strategies and specific initiatives
I think one of the great weaknesses of governments of all kinds is that they tend to have a particular kind of approach to policy. There might be a brief strategic overview, explaining why the policy area is important, but essentially what everyone expects is ‘initiatives’ and, of course, funding to undertake the initiatives. Policy then becomes a quick introduction followed by a list of initiatives. In the worst case it’s just a mish-mash of initiatives.

The language of success ­– recognising a great unsung community movement

What is especially significant about the Prime Minister, in his Closing the Gap address, recognising the importance of Indigenous languages is that this is the first time a Liberal leader has expressed such views. It’s exciting because for progress to be made it is essential that there is a jointly agreed position. This moment arises from the tireless work over many decades of hundreds of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander language revivalists – surely one of the great positive unsung community movements in Australian history. By their hard work they have managed to change the profile of Indigenous languages in Australia. Unfortunately the address reinforced the tendency of government to overlook the success stories that are already happening in local communities and look for big institutional solutions.

I spent over five years working closely with Aboriginal languages revivalists who for many decades have been toiling away tirelessly in communities across the nation maintaining and reviving their languages – and I had the benefit of a good education on community languages as an unexpected bonus. I bring a particular perspective to it, as a former public servant who has had reasonably long and close experience with the role of government in supporting community efforts to save languages. I’ve seen the highs and lows and some of the successes and failures of government engagement with Aboriginal communities. Unusually this has been from a perspective provided by being only incidentally involved in the bloated government universe of ‘Indigenous Affairs’ and rather part of the support provided by the Australian Government for arts and culture.

The challenge for governments is translating inspiring speeches in Parliament into focused policy and action.

I don't particularly like talking about Indigenous languages because there are a host of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander language revivalists who have plenty to say about them and know about them far better than I. However, because I am familiar with how government has intersected with Indigenous languages, I think I can add some useful comments about that aspect.

Long overdue – but better late than never
I was pleasantly surprised when the Prime Minister, in his Closing the Gap address earlier this month, recognised the importance of Indigenous languages. I’d seen the annual report being provided to Parliament, outlining the failures (and some successes) of the Closing the Gap effort but after a while it’s easy to skim over the details. I’d been impressed that the Prime Minister made the effort to begin his address in the language of the Ngunnawal, local Aboriginal people of the Canberra region. However, apart from that, I hadn’t listened closely. This meant I’d missed the part of his comments about languages. When I saw a report on them in the media yesterday I was initially excited. This is long overdue. We’ve heard it before from Labor politicians such as Peter Garrett, who recognised how interrrelated languages were to other issues. His recognition culminated in the joint announcement with Jenny Macklin of Australia’s first National Indigenous Languages Policy in 2009 – but that’s the Labor Party, only half the story as far as major political parties are concerned.

Literature and languages – inaugural Indigenous literary festival sign of things to come

Happening this weekend is a very important event for Australian cultural life, the inaugural Victorian Indigenous literary festival Blak & Bright. It aims to promote and celebrate a diversity of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander voices.

The fabulous author and Indigenous languages revivalist, Bruce Pascoe, is co-headlining the festival. With 29 books to his name, including the 2013 Prime Minister’s Literary award-winning Fog a Dox, he will help make an historic event. In the lead up to the Festival he has been interviewed about his views on Australian literature.

Melbourne from across the  River Yarra.

There have also been important developments in Queensland, with the state Indigenous languages organisations, the Queensland Indigenous Languages Advisory Committee, having a history of involvement with the Queensland Writers Festival. They recently had a smaller event along the lines of Blak & Bright in Brisbane. There have probably been other activities happening that I’m not aware of, though I’d be keen to hear.

Valuing the intangible

We are surrounded by intangible cultural heritage – Indigenous and non-Indigenous – and often it’s incredibly important to us but we can’t seem to understand why or put a name to its importance.So many issues of paramount importance to Australia and its future are linked to the broad cultural agenda of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO). In particular they are central to one of UNESCO’s key treaties, the International Convention for the Safeguarding of Intangible Cultural Heritage.

As usual the most recent discussion about ending services to Aboriginal homelands has been expressed completely in terms of physical infrastructure – roads, rubbish, water, housing. When the Intervention, or the National Emergency Response as it is more formally called, rolled into the NT in 2007 all the focus was on this – how many water tanks, how many houses with how many people in them, no consideration of whose country all the families were crowded onto, what languages people spoke – like seeing a coloured photo in black and white. No wonder they missed the point.

'It’s a gap in Australian culture that we don’t seem to appreciate our own culture – or our own language. We might complain that people don’t speak English but for us it’s just a way of saying things – we don’t appreciate that we are held tightly in its world view.' 

I’m not surprised – when I worked in Local Government decades ago the challenge was to get councillors to think beyond the garbage bins.

Fashion parade of Indigenous designs from Far North Queensland, the Torres Strait and NT, Cairns 2013.

It’s a gap in Australian culture that we don’t seem to appreciate our own culture – or our own language. We might complain that people don’t speak English but for us it’s just a way of saying things – we don’t appreciate that we are held tightly in its world view. All of this powerful phenomenon which surrounds us and shapes our view of the world so completely is intangible cultural heritage.

The Magna Carta – still a work in progress

Australian culture is inconceivable without the crucial role of Indigenous culture. In the arts and culture sector Indigenous culture has always been seen as a strength to be celebrated, whereas in the mainstream of ‘Indigenous affairs’, there has always been a faint ambivalence and a lingering concern that Indigenous culture might be holding back economic development and "full" participation in  mainstream society.

Chou En Lai, the much respected former Premier of China, once famously (and perhaps actually) said when asked what he saw as the long term effects of the French Revolution, that it was too soon to tell. The same could be said of the Magna Carta, the birth certificate of Western democracy. I keep being reminded that it remains a work in progress and that the hard won gains we enjoy are fragile and need to be constantly protected and extended. The Magna Carta and all that followed it is very much an ongoing project.

This blog is about Australian culture – not human rights, democracy or Indigenous communities. The problem is that culture is about all those things – that’s what makes it so important.

Stop the closure of Aboriginal communities marchers reach a Parliament House long since empty, in all senses of the word.

Threatened closure of Indigenous communities
A few days ago I stood up in my small way in my home town, Canberra, as part of the campaign to stop the forced closure of remote – and not so remote – Aboriginal communities. At the same time thousands marched in their own home towns, villages or tiny ‘remote’ communities across Australia – and Australians and others across the globe also marched in places as far apart as Auckland, Christchurch, Dunedin, Tauranga Aotearoa and Hamilton in New Zealand, Chicago, Denver, New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Washington DC, the United Nations Headquarters and Honolulu in the US, Toronto, Vancouver and Ottawa in Canada, and Hong Kong, London and Berlin.

'Arts' policy and culture - let's not reinvent the wheel

The issues covered by the National Cultural Policy are far bigger than just art. So many good things in the Policy make no sense at all if we only talk about art and the arts. These include high profile matters of central importance to Australia's economic future like creative industries and how we treat Indigenous culture and languages.

It appears that after only one term in the backblocks of Parliament, faced with the increasing prospect that it could become the next Australian Government, the Labor Party is reviewing its ‘arts’ policy.

It's always good to plan ahead but whether we see a Labor Government again any time soon or whether the current Coalition government continues its particular brand of arts support, considered and strategic discussion of arts and culture policy is critical to Australia's future.

As the most recent comprehensive strategic approach to government support for Australia's arts and culture the National Cultural Policy won't go away. The wide-ranging issues it raises are relevant to any discussion of arts and culture in Australia. To my mind reviewing Labor arts policy could easily be a case of reinventing the wheel. The National Cultural Policy is still fresh, less than two years old, having been announced as 'Creative Australia' only in March 2013 after a protracted period of development based on very broad consultation. This had the advantage of being undertaken by a party in government with all the resources that entailed.

The National Cultural Policy had a long and difficult birth and went through several ministers, most notably Simon Crean, before coming into being. It's final announcement was by no means a certainty, with mixed support from other ministers who didn't agree on it as a Government priority. It is a credit to the Government of the day, and especially the Minister of the day, that it was finally announced but make no mistake - it was a miracle.

Chinese temple, Bendigo. Cultural diversity is a hallmark of contemporary Australia, with its roots deep in our past.

If, as originally envisaged, it had been announced in the first term of the Government, it would have had a full term to prove its worth and consolidate its impact. Instead it was announced as the Government lost office and while much of value still continues, important elements were starting to be unravelled early into the term of the new Government.

It is far from perfect - I could list a number of important areas where it could be stronger. The emphasis on cultural diversity, support for intangible cultural heritage and understanding of the integral role of community arts and community cultural development in the overall arts and culture landscape could all be strengthened. Despite this it is the best thing we have seen for a long time or are likely to see for even longer.

The hidden universe of Australia’s own languages

I’ve travelled around much of Australia, by foot, by plane, by train and by bus, but mostly by car. As I travelled across all those kilometres and many decades, I never realised that, without ever knowing, I would be silently crossing from one country into another, while underneath the surface of the landscape flashing past, languages were changing like the colour and shape of the grasses or the trees. The parallel universe of Indigenous languages is unfortunately an unexpected world little-known to most Australians.

For almost seven years I worked with hundreds of Indigenous community language activists, some professionally trained in languages, most not, who were working day and night to bring their languages back into everyday use. If they stumbled across a single missing word – in some library archive or vanished book ­ – the excitement was palpable.

'If the language activists taught me one thing it was that underneath the surface language was everywhere and in everything'

It was like finding a long-lost relative. Words for sister, brother, mother, father, long thought lost, suddenly leapt out at them. Ironically, often it was the missionaries, most interested in streaming a message about their religion from English who codified and recorded the local languages and, as a result, laid an unwitting basis for this later work.

Big Talk One Fire Festival, Cairns 2013 - 'there were 250 languages in Queensland alone'

The process these languages activists are trying to reverse – the decrease in the use of the Australia’s own languages over many generations – did not happen spontaneously. As Australia was progressively settled it was common practice to discourage or actively suppress people’s use of their ancestral languages.

If the language activists taught me one thing it was that underneath the surface language was everywhere and in everything.