Gathering for God : George Brown in Oceania

Combining 'the gathering of artefacts with the gathering of souls', George Brown was a key figure in the Christian, and especially the Wesleyan Methodist, history of nineteenth-century Oceania. Using his life as a case study, Helen Bethea Gardner examines the role of Christian missionaries in the Pacific Islands. Brown's career (1860-1908) spanned one of the most tumultuous political periods in the South Pacific, as one by one islands were colonised by imperial nations. He was one of the most politically engaged of all missionaries, encouraging colonial rule in the Pacific by America, Britain, Germany and, eventually, Australia and New Zealand. Originally from the north of England, he worked as a missionary in Samoa from 1860, moving to the Bismarck Archipelago (now Papua New Guinea) in 1875. From the 1880s until his retirement in 1907, he worked in Sydney as the general secretary of the Australasian Methodist Overseas Mission. Gathering for God examines Brown's missionary letters, journals and journalism, exploring how he attracted Pacific Islanders to Christian teachings, analysing his leadership during an armed attack on New Britain villages accused of cannibalism, and looking at his work in the new discipline of anthropology. He was a major collector of artefacts (his collection is now in the Osaka Museum) and photographer of Pacific peoples (his collection is in the Australian Museum).

Exotic grass fuel in south eastern Australia

One potentially serious impact of environmental weed invasion is an alteration to the fuel characteristics and subsequent fire regimes of an area. Considerable global evidence indicates that environmental weed invasion may produce 'new' fuel types, but there is little documented evidence of the impact of invasive exotic species on fuel characteristics and fire regimes in south-eastern Australia. This study on the impact of invasive exotic grasses in southeastern Australia has revealed major changes to fuel characteristics, particularly fuel loads.

Tonic sol-fa in South Africa : a case study of endogenous musical practice

Tonic Sol-fa was introduced to South Africa during the mid nineteenth century initially by Christian missionaries and later by professional educators to schools, teacher training institutions and local communities. Despite Tonic Sol-fa being the principal means of formal pedagogy and the most commonly-accepted notational medium through which South African communities have developed and sustained what is unquestionably a vibrant choral music tradition, there has been some fairly forthright condemnation of the overall effects of European music - particularly tonal-functional harmony - on indigenous culture. Agawu (2003) and Nzewi (1999), for example, have identified what they describe as the adverse effects of European music on African culture.

This paper counters these criticisms in one respect. It argues that, as one of the most prominent manifestations of European musical culture in sub-Saharan Africa, Tonic Sol-fa represents what Ntuli (2001) identifies as endogenous knowledge - knowledge acquired from non-indigenous sources that has been assimilated and integrated with indigenous knowledge to become the collective heritage of a people. This contention is supported by four short case studies of indigenous South African composers - two past and two contemporary musicians - who have utilised Tonic Sol-fa in their choral music writing and teaching, albeit in differing ways. The paper aims to counter the general criticism that European music has been injurious to indigenous African culture; rather it argues that in reality this manifestation of European music represents an exemplar of endogenous knowledge.

Changing perceptions : marketing south eastern Australian aboriginal art

The Aboriginal cultural sector is dynamic and highly valuable to the Australian economy, returning an estimated $100 million dollars annually. The majority of Aboriginal artists and art works have been perceived to be in northern Australia-eighty percent of them are in fact in this region-but Aboriginal artists in South Eastern Australia are emerging as a strong force as they struggle for recognition from commercial and national galleries, curators, art dealers, newspaper critics, and buyers. If marketing is to be effectual, the Aboriginality of the art must be presented in a form that is understood and accepted by the audience. 1 Thus changing public perceptions is crucial to marketing South Eastern Aboriginal art. The primary task of this paper is to discuss this marketing priority for Aboriginal art and artists in South Eastern Australia, previously neglected in marketing literature. Specifically, the upcoming Melbourne Commonwealth Games are proposed as an opportunity for intensive marketing of the region's Aboriginal arts.

Tonic Sol-fa in contemporary choral music practice : a South African case study

The Tonic Sol-fa method of teaching choral singing was propagated throughout Britain during the nineteenth century with the dual objectives of enhancing Christian worship and achieving social reform. It was then imported to South Africa where it was introduced to indigenous people principally through Christian missionary activity and government schools. Although entirely of foreign origin, Tonic Sol-fa was so fully assimilated into African culture that it became effectively 'indigenised'. Due to its widespread use, it became the mainstay of community choral singing and may now be said to represent a significant exogenous aspect of present-day South African musical identity. However, there is little documentation regarding the type and extent of its use in contemporary choral music practice.

This paper will report on the use of Tonic Sol-fa in representative present-day choral music settings. Interview data collected from choir directors, trainers and teachers in Cape Town indicate that there is far from unanimous agreement on several aspects - in particular, the future of Tonic Sol-fa as a pedagogy and notational system. Improving educational opportunities for indigenous South Africans to undertake professional training in music are now threatening the traditional dominance of Tonic Sol-fa in indigenous culture. Nevertheless this research represents a useful case study of the continuing relevance of Tonic Sol-fa to an indigenous population who have 'made it their own' and developed a vibrant choral tradition which continues to both enrich and sustain their lives.

Accounting for local government boundary changes in South Australia : valuing assets and liabilities or valuing revenue streams

This paper examines the methodologies adopted in the transfer of assets, liabilities, revenues and expenses resulting from boundary changes associated with municipal amalgamations in South Australia during the late 1990s. It investigates the methods employed for apportioning these financial elements, valuations used and financial settlements required. Significant transfers occurred in only three cases. In two cases, councils used simple, pragmatic methods to apportion assets and liabilities, similar to those used previously in Victoria. In the third case a transfer price was calculated based on the net present value of revenues. This method is quite different from previous methods examined and is appropriate where one council will make significant future gains at another council's loss because of net revenue transfers.

Sveta Bogorodica (The Church of the Holy Mother), Zavoj, Macedonia : writing about an insignificant vernacular building

Sveta Bogorodica (Church of the Holy Mother), Zavoj, is a small church built in 1934 in a village in the Republic of Macedonia. It presented a quintessential architectural division between a richly ornamented interior and a pure white formal exterior. The paper will examine the question of tradition in relation to architecture. What of the formal Byzantine architectural tradition is inherited in this folk vernacular church building? Secondly, tradition as an inherited liturgical ritual and ceremony. How are these two forms of tradition autonomous or intertwined, and how the question about transcendence in architecture pursued in the 2005 paper on Hagia Sofia might be understood within the parameters offered by this church building, will be explored in the paper .

The importance of national ICT visions for information society in South East Asia

This paper addresses the question ‘How necessary is a national information and communications technology (ICT) strategy/vision for the development of an information society?’ For the purpose of this paper, ‘information society’ is reduced to two key dimensions: penetration of ICT, and access to government information on-line. In considering the question, the paper calls on data contained in the International Telecommunication Union’s (ITU) case studies of e-readiness in eight South East Asian (SEA) nations (Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam). The background to the paper includes an overview of the SEA nations in terms of demographics and a discussion of the dilemma of government involvement in developing an information society in the light of the ‘small government mantra’ that has dominated in recent years. National ICT strategies visions of each nation are presented, followed by on overview of their information society policies and practices and their ICT penetration. The importance of the vision is then contrasted with other factors including level of development and national income. The conclusions draw attention to the importance of a vision irrespective of level of development and resource availability. In fact, for the least developed nations, poor infrastructure may be an opportunity to leap frog to the most advanced networks supporting an information society, if the vision is relevant, powerful and broadly held.