Different sounds, different musics, different teaching : an Australian case study in multicultural teaching and learning

This single case study is part of a wider ongoing research project, begun in 2005, entitled Intercultural attitudes of pre-service music education students from Deakin University and Monash University, Melbourne, Australia. One participant selected from the entire cohort and reinterviewed in 2009 as it was apparent that his experience and expertise outstripped all the others. This paper explores the tensions between authentic pedagogical practice, as understood by the interviewee, in community teaching and in a school. The data generated were analysed using interpretative phenomenological analysis. Three major themes were identified: benefits of community music making, authentic learning, and reality of class music practice. The data demonstrate that authentic socio-cultural understanding is achievable in community music teaching, particularly in the honoring of what individuals bring the sharing of expertise between ensemble players and valuing community arts practice. However, as this is a case study demonstrates, at least in some schools, there is a lack of understanding of how multicultural music could and should be taught. Australian schools should encourage teachers who bring different sounds, different musics and different teaching into the classroom thus resolving to some degree, the potential mismatches between culturally developed learning styles and music teaching methods.

Strategies for bridging sectors and silos : a training model in mental health promotion

Issue addressed: The determinants of individual and community mental health and wellbeing are diverse and many lie outside the sphere of action of the health sector. Developing the confidence and skills of these other sectors to contribute to improved mental health has been identified as a priority at State and national levels that requires the development of specific workforce capacity-building strategies. Methods: VicHealth developed and implemented a two day short course to raise the capacity of organisations from a range of sectors to contribute to the mental health and wellbeing of communities. The model of this short course was constructed to reflect the diverse sectors targeted, which included health, local government, community arts, sport and recreation, justice, and education. Results: Evaluation of the two year pilot program, with more than 1,000 participants, has identified a high degree of satisfaction with the content and delivery model of the course, with clear changes in knowledge, skills and practice having been achieved. Cross-sector understanding and collaborations between participants increased as a result of the course. Conclusions: Continuing demand for the course demonstrates clearly that mental health and well-being is relevant to the core business of a broad range of community and professional organisations. The course has increased the confidence and capacity of these sector representatives to take action on mental health as well as increased cross-sector dialogue and partnerships. The recruitment of trainers from diverse sectors was successful in promoting a key component of the program, which was the message that mental health promotion should be the business of all sectors.

Shelley Hannigan

This was an exhibition in café. Having exhibited in galleries and then moved into community arts I was keen to try out exhibiting in spaces that are more accessible to the public. These were artworks created both in Geelong and during a residency at Bundanon, NSW.

Crafts and successful aging: the Découpage Guild Australia

What a wreck!

Re-enactment of the JC Scammell shipwreck at Point Danger in 1883 : Community Performance written and directed by Wendy Grose with choreography by Jacqui Dreessens and music led by Michele Barnes

iSeru : Meleponi Pasifika Exhibition

Mixed-media, Fijian barkcloth (masi), screenprint, digital photographic prints, Fijian wooden comb all exhibited in the exhibition Meleponi Pasifika.

National dance forum report

 The National Dance Forum aims to foster the artistic development of dance in Australia by providing a platform for discussion and engagement across the dance sector. Through a series of panels, keynote speeches, open forums and networking events, the 2013 National Dance Forum sought to increase the profile of Australian dance and to celebrate diversity and innovation across the industry.

The 2013 National Dance Forum was held at the Footscray Community Arts Centre, having moved from its 2011 location, Arts House. As in 2011, the participants for 2013 National Dance Forum included choreographers, dancers, independent artists, artistic directors, educators, researchers, dance producers and students. 177 individuals attended the 2013 Forum, with many traveling from interstate/overseas to participate in the Forum and to attend Dance Massive events.
This evaluation for the 2013 National Dance Forum has been developed to evaluate the success of the event against its stated aims and to assist in targeting new opportunities and directions for future Forums.

This evaluation has undertaken an analysis of the relevancy and effectiveness of this forum for participants using evaluation questionnaires developed by the National Dance Forum and issued to all participants on the final day of the Forum. This evaluation collates and analyses the responses of 64 respondents in the areas of their own individual professional focus, their experiences as participants in the 2013 National Dance Forum including the strengths and weaknesses of the event, and the relevancy and effectiveness of the Forum for the Australian dance sector.

Food for thought

'Food for thought 'embraces the notion that a revolution can start at the dinner table. In the 1970s Judy Chicago’s work 'The Dinner Party' sparked debate and brought attention to the significant contribution of women throughout history. LEVEL drew from the central idea of this work - the gathering of women around the dining table - in order to explore the richness of ideas that this kind of debate generates as a contemporary form of consciousness-raising.

 As part of the 2012 Next Wave Festival, LEVEL hosted a series of dinner party events and banner making workshops at the Footscray Community Arts Centre. Dinner themes addressed the role of women in the arts and in the media, the significance of feminist generations in Australian art and the role of art to bring about political change for women.

¿Qué es el arte comunitario? Definiciones de la literatura especializada iberoamericana y local

En esta presentación se intenta iluminar un tipo de arte en las márgenes, en espacios alternativos de producción y circulación de obras fuera de los tradicionales. Es decir, se focaliza en experiencias creativas a veces invisibles para no directamente envueltos en estas experiencias: el arte comunitario. En este trabajo se lleva a cabo entonces una revisión acerca del término arte comunitario en la actualidad, basándonos en autores nacionales. El objetivo de este trabajo es analizar si este término de gran difusión entre los países angloparlantes (community arts) es aplicable en el ámbito latinoamericano, y cuál es el grado de avance alrededor de su definición, componentes e impacto, dentro de la investigación académica hispano- parlante. En base a estas aproximaciones se concluye que lo distintivo del arte comunitario es su naturaleza grupal, envolviendo la participación activa de grupos en un proceso creativo, que se desarrolla en la comunidad. Apunta al bienestar de las personas, las ayuda a compartir experiencias y comprenderse entre sí. Se focaliza en grupos específicos, en sus necesidades y preferencias; además, puede alcanzar a personas con poca afinidad a centros culturales estandarizados; por otra parte, además de envolver a estas personas en actividades artísticas, colabora en el desarrollo progresivo de sus habilidades artísticas

¿Qué es el arte comunitario? Definiciones de la literatura especializada iberoamericana y local

En esta presentación se intenta iluminar un tipo de arte en las márgenes, en espacios alternativos de producción y circulación de obras fuera de los tradicionales. Es decir, se focaliza en experiencias creativas a veces invisibles para no directamente envueltos en estas experiencias: el arte comunitario. En este trabajo se lleva a cabo entonces una revisión acerca del término arte comunitario en la actualidad, basándonos en autores nacionales. El objetivo de este trabajo es analizar si este término de gran difusión entre los países angloparlantes (community arts) es aplicable en el ámbito latinoamericano, y cuál es el grado de avance alrededor de su definición, componentes e impacto, dentro de la investigación académica hispano- parlante. En base a estas aproximaciones se concluye que lo distintivo del arte comunitario es su naturaleza grupal, envolviendo la participación activa de grupos en un proceso creativo, que se desarrolla en la comunidad. Apunta al bienestar de las personas, las ayuda a compartir experiencias y comprenderse entre sí. Se focaliza en grupos específicos, en sus necesidades y preferencias; además, puede alcanzar a personas con poca afinidad a centros culturales estandarizados; por otra parte, además de envolver a estas personas en actividades artísticas, colabora en el desarrollo progresivo de sus habilidades artísticas

Developing artist residencies in rural communities : the McLean County experience /

On cover: Arteries : articles on community arts development.

¿Qué es el arte comunitario? Definiciones de la literatura especializada iberoamericana y local

En esta presentación se intenta iluminar un tipo de arte en las márgenes, en espacios alternativos de producción y circulación de obras fuera de los tradicionales. Es decir, se focaliza en experiencias creativas a veces invisibles para no directamente envueltos en estas experiencias: el arte comunitario. En este trabajo se lleva a cabo entonces una revisión acerca del término arte comunitario en la actualidad, basándonos en autores nacionales. El objetivo de este trabajo es analizar si este término de gran difusión entre los países angloparlantes (community arts) es aplicable en el ámbito latinoamericano, y cuál es el grado de avance alrededor de su definición, componentes e impacto, dentro de la investigación académica hispano- parlante. En base a estas aproximaciones se concluye que lo distintivo del arte comunitario es su naturaleza grupal, envolviendo la participación activa de grupos en un proceso creativo, que se desarrolla en la comunidad. Apunta al bienestar de las personas, las ayuda a compartir experiencias y comprenderse entre sí. Se focaliza en grupos específicos, en sus necesidades y preferencias; además, puede alcanzar a personas con poca afinidad a centros culturales estandarizados; por otra parte, además de envolver a estas personas en actividades artísticas, colabora en el desarrollo progresivo de sus habilidades artísticas

Cultural policy of the GLC

Loraine Leeson shared a panel with Hilary Wainwright and Linda Bellos OBE to speak about the cultural legacy of the Greater London Council. As a former member of the GLC’s Community Arts sub-committee in the 1980s, she drew on this experience to highlight the usefully different model offered by its arts policies to the top-down, target-driven arts funding structures, which are so familiar today. GLC policies led to a different kind of art, and with new life now being breathed into the Labour movement, younger generations are looking to lessons from the past to learn how things can be done differently.

Valorization of cultural diversity throught Good Practices Dissemination on Art Mediation: sharing experiencies

In this article, as part of the Erasmus+ project “Divercity”, we focus on the collection and analysis of good practices in Spain and other countries in Europe. The project revolves around the development of methods that valorize cultural diversity and in this respect, identifying and sharing best practices on diversity and inclusion through artistic mediation inside museums, culture institutions, our urban walks, forms an mandatory stage of the research process.

Theatre History and Historiography Ethics, Evidence and Truth

This collection of essays is the first time a group of theatre historians have come together to consider the challenge of applying ethical thinking to attempts to truthfully represent the past. Topics include the life of the celebrated Restoration actor Thomas Betterton, the little-known records of hitherto forgotten women involved in Victorian theatre, amateur theatricals enjoyed by the British army in colonial India, the loss of a pioneering arts centre for African and Caribbean culture, performance art in Wales and present-day community arts in Northern Ireland. While confronting such difficult issues as the instability of evidence and the unreliability of memory, the contributors offer fresh perspectives and innovative strategies for fulfilling their ethical responsibility to the lived experience of the past.