Regional Community Partnership Tura New Music
September 2018
Tura brings together different kinds of music, different kinds of cultures, different kinds of people and different kinds of spaces, and changes the way they relate to each other.
ABOUT TURA
“ From the outset our partnership with Tura New Music has brought us great insights into Australian culture and first-hand experiences we would otherwise never have had..”
Adrian Hodgson Managing Director Total E&P
Having recently celebrated our 30th year as a producer and advocate of new music and sonic art, Tura New Music is a multi-award-winning Australian organisation, paving the way for exceptional and curious encounters with unique sound worlds and outstanding community partnerships. Parallel to our city-based programs, Tura has been spearheading projects in regional and remote northern Australia since 2001. With a focus on the active involvement of Aboriginal Australian artists and communities, our aim is to establish contemporary Australian music and sound art as “in and of the place where it is created”. With Tura’s Remote Artist in Residency Program, we represent this sense of place in several ways. Some residencies involve the physical creation of a unique sound art installation in the location. Actively engaging local people in its construction through involvement of the local arts centre, men’s shed and local providers of CDEP. Each work is entirely individual. In other locations, the residency consists of multi-year, collaborative, creative partnerships between Tura and local grass roots community organisations and schools. Here, young participants learn to explore music making and are guided in devising their own compositions. In both residency scenarios, under the guidance of highly experienced music educators and facilitators, young people learn new, creative and practical skills including: story-telling through music, composing, presenting, performing, recording, event-management and marketing as well as planning, mapping, goal-setting and decision-making. Tura’s regional residencies inspire pride and belonging, creative exploration and confidence, and experimental and cross-cultural ways of organising musical sounds and expression, while embracing the local and familiar. Tura’s Regional Touring Program is yet another example of this. Touring through remote and regional communities, an ensemble of some of Australia’s most renowned Indigenous and non-Indigenous musicians perform with local artists, validating and exploring local music, introducing new experiences, and encouraging community participation. Shaped by the sounds, sights and encounters on the road, new Australian works and long-lasting collaborations are created which, otherwise, would never come into being. In high demand are the much-loved, free music workshops in schools, an integral part of the Regional Touring Program since its inception in 2001. Having toured regional centres and some of WA’s remotest and most disadvantaged communities, the tour generally concludes in Perth, delighting large audiences at the Perth Concert Hall or State Theatre Centre, and on one occasion at the Sydney Opera House, for a red-carpet gala event.
TURA’S ACHIEVEMENTS 2018 Award for Excellence by an Organisation at the Art Music Awards, presented by APRA AMCOS and the Australian Music Centre 2017 Award for Excellence in a Regional Area at the Art Music Awards, presented by the Australian Music Centre and APRA/AMCOS 2014 Award for Outstanding Contribution to Australian Music at the 2014 Art Music Awards, presented by the Australian Music Centre and APRA/AMC 2011 Australian Business and The Arts (AbaF) Award State Winner with Total E&P Australia, National Finalists.
PARTNERING WITH TURA Now, Tura is reaching out to corporations active in the Pilbara and Kimberley regions of Western Australia who are seeking a quality community investment and a value-for-money opportunity to align themselves with a not-for-profit cultural organisation that: • impacts the lives and livelihoods of hundreds of Pilbara and Kimberley community members annually in meaningful ways through highly participatory, innovative cross-cultural projects • facilitates access for its corporate partners to Aboriginal communities through its long-standing, trusted partnerships • creates new opportunities for Aboriginal artists, emerging artists and audiences • has a 17-year track record of successful community outcomes and well-managed corporate community partnerships (see Case Study) • is artistically adventurous, but is a safe bet in terms of delivery – Tura is highly experienced in dealing with Aboriginal cultural protocols as well as the very specific production and logistical challenges of regional centres and remote communities • creates constructive, creative environments, cultural outcomes only possible “on country” • offers a viable and vibrant platform for building real connections • is a source of inspiration, engagement and stimulation for your employees, clients and other stakeholders • generates events with a public engagement well-beyond the arts/ music scene. The integrity with which this process is conducted is why Tura is invited back time and time again.
COMMUNITY BENEFITS AND OUTCOMES
1,500
people participate directly in the regional program each year, of which 70% are of Aboriginal descent.
40%
of touring artists are Indigenous, all are nationally and internationally renowned music artists. Around
3,500 people attend a Tura regional program event each year.
350–400
16 communities in the Pilbara and Kimberley are currently included in our Regional Program and are highly engaged in either residencies or schools’ workshops and community presentations. These include: Port Hedland, Karratha, Newman, Kununurra, Wyndham, Warmun, Halls Creek, Fitzroy Crossing, Derby, Broome, Beagle Bay, Djarindjin, Lombadina, One Arm Point, Ardyaloon and Bidyadanga. Tura is happy to extend this delivery footprint to suit additional partnership objectives. WA’s regional communities are geographically disadvantaged when it comes to access to high calibre arts and cultural product. Tura’s Regional Program addresses that disadvantage. Alignment with Tura, will see your organisation: • contribute to individuals’ sense of inclusion in their communities • build capacity through long term engagement and skills transfer • raise awareness of regional and remote communities in the hearts and minds of Australians • leave behind a positive, lasting legacy. Our regional projects promote collaboration and direct involvement with our musicians by participants and audiences. Through the music outreach programs our artists engage directly with individuals and groups in the communities. Encouraging direct interactions with the musicians provides access, involvement and active participation with music. “It’s about an ongoing dialogue, started 15 years ago. You’ve done your cultural vouching early on. All the mob know you. Plus, you’re always talking to cultural leaders and minding the cultural sensitivities. That level of cultural competency that Tura has provided is important. Tura’s footprint in the Kimberley alone is maybe over 20 or more language groups. Through that process of sharing and being inclusive, Tura is part of a cultural sharing system called Wirnan, sharing of Joonba (trad. song and dance), resources, songs, language etc. Tura has tapped into that reciprocal cultural sharing, in a culturally competent way. The sharing of the Joonba the other night, there was a process of Wirnan because Mark Atkins was given the chance to play on the yidaki. That process took 2 years for that old song man to give that song to Mark. Black-fella, white fella. That Joonba bin woken up. Tura does that.”
artists annually are contracted by Tura, 40% of whom are young or early career artists.
150
works each year, of which two thirds are new Australian works, are presented each year.
60–70
live performance events in WA and interstate are presented by Tura each year.
Giancarlo Mazella Community Development Officer (Balgo), East Kimberley
PROGRAM EVALUATION With financial support from the Ian Potter Foundation, Tura has embarked on developing an evaluation framework for its regional program. Following extensive consultation with the local communities in 2017, Tura Tracks was born this year. Tura Tracks will evaluate annually the impact of the regional program. The first full Tura Tracks evaluation will take place in 2019 and the results will be shared with Tura’s partners. We are open to including additional criteria within the framework that our partners may be interested in measuring.
PARTNERSHIPS What makes Tura so different is that beyond its relentless pursuit of excellence, it also applies the same rigour and integrity in an outward sense through collaborative partnerships, where artists, companies and communities work together in the development of exciting cultural projects, custom-designed to deliver positive outcomes for regional and remote Australia. Our current partners include: Air North Town of Port Hedland City of Karratha Shire of Wyndham East-Kimberley Lotterywest Healthway The Ian Potter Foundation Rowley Foundation Feilman Foundation
INVESTMENT An investment in Tura is an investment in the social, cultural and economic wellbeing of the community. Several levels of partnership investment are available, from Principal Regional Program Partner to Supporting Partner. We invite you to meet with us to discuss your community objectives and how Tura can meet those and, if there is a match, consider with you the right level of investment and develop a commensurate, tailored package of benefits.
CONTACT
Annalisa Oxenburgh Executive Director Tura New Music T: (08) 9228 3711 - M: 0404 084 280 E: annalisa@tura.com.au Liesbeth Goedhart Development Adviser Tura New Music M: 0402 447 171 E: development@tura.com.au
Photography: Frances Andrijich & Bohdan Warchomij Design: Chil3