A lot of my academic and consultancy work at the moment is focused on online urbanism, distributed knowledge and urban creativity. I’m loath to use the term ‘action research’ loosely, but this form of public sociology is really impossible to separate from creative practice. One of the projects I’ve been working on with some lovely and talented colleagues is about to launch itself on the world, and now has its own web presence – BrisCulture.
While literature about Creative Cities abounds, every city has its own urbanism and its own distinct culture. A ‘one size fits all’ model doesn’t map neatly onto the specificities of place. While Brisbane is now on the arts map with new cultural infrastructure capable of attracting visitors in the hundreds and thousands to major exhibitions and events, what of the sustainability of the city’s everyday lived cultural experience and production? Our town has proved its value in fostering distinctive and innovative forms of cultural practice – the germination of the music scene in the Valley or the arrival of grunge lit being notable moments in time. But much of this activity takes place ‘underground’ – it bubbles up alchemically from below; drawing energy from serendipitous connections and a sense of locale. Although we welcome the era of government support, public art and creative industries policy, we contend that embedding, celebrating and fostering emergent practice is a task still to be thought out.
That’s the task we’ve set ourselves. It sounds ambitious, but it’s realisable because we’re approaching it as an exercise in making connections and fostering the art of public conversation and collaborative policy making. You can read about the project at BrisCulture and stay tuned for our first event. As part of the 2009 Brisbane CitySmart Innovation Festival, we are hosting a joint event with The Centre for Policy Development, and in conjunction with the Eidos Institute, on the 26th of May at the Old School of Arts in Ann Street, Brisbane – Creative Brisbane: Rethinking Innovation. This will only be the beginning – we’re conceiving BrisCulture as a rolling series of events, policy interventions, performances and conversations which exists in a virtual locale as well as in the spaces of the city.
If you’re interested in all this, whether as a Brisbanite, an occasional visitor, or just curious about the town, I’d encourage you to join our Facebook group, which will be utilised to keep everyone in the loop. I’m very excited about this project, and I think it will lead to some really interesting things!
This is a fantastic initiative, Mark! Really promising and exciting stuff! Nice website too!
I’m reluctant* to sound like I’m in a suit* and tie* in front of a spreadsheet* but I’d be interested in what sort of costings you have for a project such as this – not only counting direct outgoings but in kind contributions from people like yourself and web site costs, hosting, venues, phones, admin support, office space, etc etc ?
* I’m reluctant but out and proud.
Thanks Kim!
FXH – you can always email me if you want to discuss spreadsheets!
Mark, congratulations on what looks to be a really important initiative. Mind you, it leaves me with very mixed feelings. Part of it is flashback, no doubt, as I find myself filled with a strange sense of de ja vu, and also not a little bitterness, at my own experiences.
5 years of my life, 4 festivals and $40,000 worth of credit card debt later, I learnt my lesson the heard way about how difficult fostering emerging culture in Brisbane can be.
Along the way I held any number of panel discussions and even a couple of entire conferences on small creative businesses in south-east Queensland. But does anyone now remember? It seems to me that now the dust has settled, the large cultural institutions we set out to try and provide a counter-example to remain just as complacent and well-funded as ever, while the vast majority of the artists and thinkers we presented at SOOB have left the city.
So I would like to ask you Mark, sincerely and without malice, what your definition of success in this venture will be. What would “sustainable” emergent/emerging culture look like? After moving to Melbourne, I found myself realising that Brisbane is simply kidding itself in terms of pretending that it can match centres like Sydney and Melbourne, let alone New York or Berlin, in terms of the cultural infrastructure, access to markets and plain bums on seats that both these cities enjoy. Even brisbane’s former advantages of cheap housing have eroded.
And when we celebrate underground culture, shouldn’t we endeavour to remind ourselves that many of these artists are in a sense exploiting themselves, spending long hours and much of their own money in the pursuit of creative rewards for which there will never be a financial recompense?
Ben, good comments.
In a sense, what we’re aiming to achieve is precisely to address the last two paras you’ve written. That is to say – a recognition that Brisbane is in many ways a small not a big city – but that it needs to become more porous across the various networks that do exist – but we’re wasting everyone’s time if we try to be a ‘world city’. I don’t think we can, and I don’t think we want to be one, actually – we’d lose something in more than one way if we tried.
Secondly, I strongly believe conventional approaches to ‘audience development’ are really stuck in the doldrums. I’m convinced – and I believe we can demonstrate – that there are other ways of doing things which can both reach out further and turn a buck for cultural practitioners/producers. ‘Sustainable creative futures’ is also conceptualised very much as economically viable for those of us doing the creating, and allowing more people to enter that space without leaving town.
Ben(4): Props for the uncommon veracity of your tale of history and indignation “Brisbane is simply kidding itself”…but isn’t that kinda the whole point of the ‘Creative Industries’ ouevre? Whoever said “You can’t fool all of the people all of the time” hasn’t been to Queensland.
Mark: This ‘Creactive Brisbane: Rethinking Innovation’ shindig @ the old school of arts, a “panel discussion and interactive workshops targeted at Creative Urban Professional Practioners, and a free public conversation.”…. (Great idea, targetting CUPPies… is it BYO, or will State Government branded slingshot merchandise be supplied?) Will that bit be separate from the free public discussion event?
Now purple’s a lovely colour and all that, but really,
You don’t think that’s laying on a bit thick, even by brisso standards? What was it about your exemplar, Restrung, that was only “possible in Brisbane and nowhere else”?
As for having to wait till we
… You’re not suggesting Geoff Rush should have stayed in some groundhog day playing Clownaroonies down some back street Valley church hall, instead of moving on to such mainstream dross as taking out an Oscar, or upstaging Peter Sellars at playing Peter Sellars? Ed Kuepper would I daresay be dismissive of any suggestion the Laughing Clowns was a veering towards the mainstream.
Obversely, could there ever be a case of an act/company losing it’s mojo by so much for so long, while moving geographically so little, as the 25+ year descent of the razor edgy Rock and Roll circus into the vanilla vaudeville of Circa, via the lazy circuitous trip from 80′s West End to noughties Judy?. Sure it can be said of that example that it’s just not my cup of absynthe, but nonetheless, the point remains from that act’s history, vis a vis mainstreaming influences: What artistic/academic content/presentation price the faustian bargain of statist funding, much more so than parochial situatedness?
From a very famous poem about Brisbane:
.
And they’re all livin’ devil may care
And I’m just the devil with love to spare
.
Don’t you think?
I’ve got a whole lotta love to give, Adrien.
Izzer more o’ you da love baby!
.
Erivisah!
Car’ Pe’kinsah
ErivisaH!
Adrien: for a rocking-er, poetic-er, musical-er treat, hear mp3 @):
“It’s hot in Brisbane,
But it’s Coolangatta,
Cooloongatta for me!”
The Tweed’s answer to Mr. Presley: Doug Roughton’s Hokey Pokey Club, 1953
Awesome Danny.
Looks like ragtime made it to Queensland in typically timely fashion!
FD: if you wan’t it for your act, score is available, (with authentic not-quite risque period cartoon style gold coast promo cover) @ national library archive, god bless their socks. Note: 2 versions there: slow bounce (?, but sounds like fun) and, indeed, dixieland/fast. People’s key of Bb.
Double awesome to the max!!!
It’s all nerdy gobbledegook to me, but the keys and cello players can sight read pretty well.
I will seriously try to get this in our setlist if and when we play Gold Coast (or Brisbane).
How ’bout:
The moon stood still
On (it’s actually a hill)???