Magic Light, Silver City: the business of culture in Broken Hill

Andersen, LJ

Magic Light, Silver City: the business of culture in Broken Hill

Andersen, LJ

Permalink

Publisher:: Routledge
Publication Type:: Journal Article
Citation:: Australian Geographer, 2010, 41 (1), pp. 71 - 85
Issue Date:: 2010-01

Open Access

Copyright Clearance Process

Recently Added
In Progress
Open Access

This item is open access.

Adobe PDF

Download full textAdobe PDF (164.89 kB)

View on publisher's site

View statistics

Full metadata record

Field	Value	Language
dc.contributor.author	Andersen, LJ https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3635-122X	en_US
dc.date.issued	2010-01	en_US
dc.identifier.citation	Australian Geographer, 2010, 41 (1), pp. 71 - 85	en_US
dc.identifier.issn	0004-9182	en_US
dc.identifier.uri	http://hdl.handle.net/10453/14054
dc.description.abstract	This article examines cultural industries in Broken Hill - the iconic 'Silver City' of Australian mining in far western NSWand comes from research funded by arts and regional development agencies during 2006 and 2007. In interviewing and surveying the 'movers and makers' of the local cultural sector a picture emerged of a successful group of mainly informally qualified professional visual artists and crafts people working from home studios who spend more time on their practice and make more money than their metropolitan counterparts. Broken Hill also has a thriving service sector, fine weather and competitive location infrastructure for screen industries, and a community proud of its 'arid artists' and its historical and international reputation as a film set. Artists enjoy the lower-than-city costs of accommodation, the quality of light, their proximity to 'Outback' and industrial landscapes, and sustainable local and seasonal tourist markets. With a focus on richly coloured landscape painting and traditional crafts and some contempt for the city 'art mafia', there is limited diversity of cultural products and a 'half-Sydney' market ceiling price on local sales. The Indigenous arts sector has a low profile and is surprisinglygiven high numbers of international touristsunderdeveloped. The arts community is fragmented by divisions that both reflect the male-dominated, rugged independence and 'us and them' heritage of this desert mining and 'union town' and inhibit cooperative development. Remoteness means wariness of newcomers and new ideas; young people leave; limited access to business expertise, production services and training; and high transport costs. Isolation means a unique local culture; a friendly community; freedom from city-based art fads, stress and busyness; and blue skies, time and a clear view.	en_US
dc.publisher	Routledge	en_US
dc.relation.ispartof	Australian Geographer	en_US
dc.relation.isbasedon	10.1080/00049180903535584	en_US
dc.rights	This is an Author's Accepted Manuscript of an article published in Australian Geographer, 2010, 41 (1), pp. 71 - 85. Copyright Routledge, available online at: https://dx.doi.org/10.1080/00049180903535584.	en_US
dc.subject.classification	Geography	en_US
dc.title	Magic Light, Silver City: the business of culture in Broken Hill	en_US
dc.type	Journal Article
utslib.citation.volume	1	en_US
utslib.citation.volume	41	en_US
utslib.for	1608 Sociology	en_US
pubs.embargo.period	Not known	en_US
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney
utslib.copyright.status	open_access
pubs.consider-herdc	true	en_US
pubs.issue	1	en_US
pubs.volume	41	en_US

Abstract:

This article examines cultural industries in Broken Hill - the iconic 'Silver City' of Australian mining in far western NSWand comes from research funded by arts and regional development agencies during 2006 and 2007. In interviewing and surveying the 'movers and makers' of the local cultural sector a picture emerged of a successful group of mainly informally qualified professional visual artists and crafts people working from home studios who spend more time on their practice and make more money than their metropolitan counterparts. Broken Hill also has a thriving service sector, fine weather and competitive location infrastructure for screen industries, and a community proud of its 'arid artists' and its historical and international reputation as a film set. Artists enjoy the lower-than-city costs of accommodation, the quality of light, their proximity to 'Outback' and industrial landscapes, and sustainable local and seasonal tourist markets. With a focus on richly coloured landscape painting and traditional crafts and some contempt for the city 'art mafia', there is limited diversity of cultural products and a 'half-Sydney' market ceiling price on local sales. The Indigenous arts sector has a low profile and is surprisinglygiven high numbers of international touristsunderdeveloped. The arts community is fragmented by divisions that both reflect the male-dominated, rugged independence and 'us and them' heritage of this desert mining and 'union town' and inhibit cooperative development. Remoteness means wariness of newcomers and new ideas; young people leave; limited access to business expertise, production services and training; and high transport costs. Isolation means a unique local culture; a friendly community; freedom from city-based art fads, stress and busyness; and blue skies, time and a clear view.

Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item:

http://hdl.handle.net/10453/14054