Investigations into the role of the enabling environment in supporting Indigenous economic development: A case study of remote community Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander art centres 2007–2013

Investigations into the role of the enabling environment in supporting Indigenous economic development: A case study of remote community Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander art centres 2007–2013 Thesis

• Author(s): Congreve, S
• Published: 2016
• Publisher: Curtin University
• Volume: PhD

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Abstract: Art centres across regional and remote Australia support the contemporary cultural expression of more than 14,000 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander artists and are a significant part of the local economies in their communities (Acker & Woodhead, 2014a; Altman, 2012). These small enterprises fulfil a range of artistic, commercial, civic and social welfare functions, which places many of them under pressure to meet community needs and expectations (Wright, 1999). Government policies and programs have been determining factors in their success (Altman, 2013). This thesis explores how policies and programs have impacted on art centres, with the aim of better understanding the enabling environment in which art centres operate and why they have succeeded to the degree they have. The hopes of policymakers, politicians and government staff rest on the art centres as vehicles for economic engagement and independence for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples (Minister for the Environment, Heritage and the Arts, 2008). This research surveys the writings about Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander economic development and the art and craft sector of remote Australia. Case studies from the Pilbara and the Torres Strait have been selected to track the impact of market forces, economic trends and policy on specific art centres, focusing on but not limited to the period between 2007 and 2013. The research demonstrates how poorly defined and understood art centres are in the policy domain and the path dependencies that have evolved as a result of self-determination and, more recently, of normalisation approaches to development in remote Australia (Pierson, 2000; P. Sullivan, 2011a). This thesis identifies some of the reasons the expectations of art centre performance have been so high, what kind of economic engagement policymakers are proposing and what the future outlook for art centres may be.

• Urls: https://espace.curtin.edu.au/bitstream/20.500.11937/2051/2/247151_Congreve%20Susan%202016.pdf
• Publisher Location: Perth