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Over the last thirty years the folk festival movement has grown in size and significance in Australia. Festivals such as the Woodford Folk Festival and Port Fairy Folk Festival have created a brand that is securely anchored in geography. The philosophy of these festivals is to discover and enhance aspects of Australian culture through music. Music events, such as these, have a long history of associating events and music composition with a specific place and time. Although this movement is new to post colonial Australia, it is common to cultures around the world.
This paper describes a music event of the Australian ensemble, Sirocco. Their events are used as a model and a point of study to illustrate a much wider social and cultural philosophy whereby a location is given cultural meaning. Their concerts, in places such as the Macquarie Marshes in western NSW, has had a effect around the world. The paper puts these events in the context of the creation of a music culture that uses geographic place and history as inspiration. One consequence is the recognition of the area as a place of significance beyond its immediate locality and its enhancement in the culture of the host country. An a result of the event, and subsequent activity, the place is given a new meaning, a cultural value, and in the case of the Macquarie Marshes, it is recognised as a major factor in preserving this wetland environment.
Macquarie Marches are situated in the dry northwest of NSW. The wetlands are formed when the Macquarie River meets the black soil plains and spreads out to cover an area of 100km long by 25km wide. The nearest town is Warren, one hours drive away. The event was a concert in the wetlands for an audience of 1000. It was broadcast live on the night to the Asia and the Pacific. The event took place in September 1993. The CD, video and broadcast are still on sale and shown around the world (2002).
The key initial stakeholders in this project were the NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service, the music ensemble Sirocco and associated composers and the Murray Darling Basin. Commission. Other organisations joined the project as it evolved. These included the ABC, Radio Australia, Telstra, National Parks Association and the Australia National Conservation Agency. All these organisations were regarded as partners in the event. Other organisation that had an interest and needed to be informed were the Warren Shire Council, Cotton Foundation, local graziers and townsfolk. The stakeholder management alone was a major part of the organisation of the event.
The event itself was a concert, overnight camping and a guided walk through the wetlands on the next day. The concert was an attraction as the music was specially composed and there was some small theatrical elements including two giant Ibises walking out of the wetlands and dancing during the performance. The broadcast to the world via satellite was another attraction as was the fact that this was a protected wetlands and only opened for this day. The event had many elements and there was not one that could be said to be its basis, except a reason to celebrate these wetlands.
The chart starts with the idea of the event see Figure 1 . This came about through discussion with a local ranger and the author of this paper. The ranger mentioned that the wetlands were in danger of being drained to serve the needs of the cotton industry. The Macquarie Marshes were virtual unknown in Australia, although they were a wetland of international importance and recognised by the RAMSAR convention. It seems problem was one of anonymity. The solution was to let people know about the area. Who and how were the main questions.
It was obvious that many of our areas are neglected because they are not an integral part of our culture. Music has the ability to give a place 'cultural value'. Mendelssohn's Fingal's cave is an example and there a numerous examples in Asian music. It also can be broadcast, recorded and exported. Potentially it is a powerful medium to enshrine a place with value. Sirocco already had experience in concerts of this nature - such as the Evergreen Realm composed for the opening of the Rainforest Pyramid in the Botanic Gardens - and had performed in areas far more remote and foreboding - such as Central Borneo.
The result was a year's work in organising the concert. The event itself would be relatively easy. Getting an audience would be the hard work. The first task was to find out who had heard of or experienced the Macquarie Marshes. This was the hard-fact-finding so necessary to an event feasibility study. Fortunately a number of Sydney Morning Herald journalists had travelled the Marshes in a canoe and wrote of their journey. At this point we knew that we had an excellent media contact.
The initial scope of the event was relatively small - a concert for one thousand people in the Marshes broadcasted locally, if possible. The event management was structured to allow for growth. For a broadcast we needed a generator, preferably a silent one as it was to be at night and the Marshes are very quite. As well we needed a satellite dish as there was no telephone lines or any line of site for microwave. If we were to have a satellite dish then we might as well broadcast to the world. The Murray Darling Basin Commission wanted to film the wetlands and thought that this might be a good time to do it. They brought a helicopter to the party. As we now had the use of a helicopter, Four Corners, who became interested when they heard about the concert, decided to bring their camera crew.
The event occurred, the audience walked through the wetlands, it was broadcast. At this point the Macquarie Marshes was, at least known to a lot of listeners. The stakeholders knew that the Marshes were now more than just a swamp and tat, at least part of the world was watching. The music was recorded and released around the world. A video was released on the wetlands of Australia featuring the Macquarie Marshes and is sold around the world. Part of the royalties from the video go to the Murray Darling Basin Commission. The video is also broadcast around Europe, Middle east and Africa on cable TV.
Sirocco based a school show on the music of the Marshes and this was used as a cross subject kit for schools around Australia. As well the ensemble performed the Wetland Suite in most counties of Asia. In The Philippines the group was joined by other environmental music groups and the theme of the world's interconnected wetlands was used in over ten concerts.
The Marshes were not used as a source of water for cotton and a member of the original event team became the manager of the Macquarie Marshes.
This may seem a one-off event and unlikely to work in other areas. However it is part of a more general -if diffused - movement in Australia to give cultural meaning to aspects of the Australian environment. It should not be confused with events where the outback or remote areas as just used an interesting venue. The Macquarie Marshes project was an integrated project. It was not a displaced concert. The music and all aspects of the theme were aimed at creating a cultural product - (for want of a better term)
What Sirocco and the event achieved was to focus people's love of the area and frame it in music. From the SMH reporter to the local farmers to the ABC sound engineers, few could not be impressed by this place. As with many events there were last minute problems - such as the potential non arrival of the generator. The respect for the event that the NSW National Parks offices had was demonstrated by the 16 hour drive from Sydney with a one ton generator on a low trailer.
One of the lessons learned from this event is that cultural value can not be artificially created. No amount of marketing analysis or economic feasibility would have uncovered the strength of feeling and devotion of the people who had experienced the Marshes.
Below I have reproduced a presentation made to the Rivers Forum for Land and Water Australia ( March 2002)
Most promotion and marketing literature talk about press releases, target markets, brand differentiation etc. However the real promotion is when the 'product' becomes part of the culture. The indefinable characteristics that make cultural value. In a superficial way, culture can been seen as true strategic marketing. The effects of the promotion are long term and deep. They are resilient and often in the background in unrelated areas. For example consider what the corporations such as IBM are trying to do. They have a corporate culture and rather, than selling computers, IBM tries to make their product integral to every day business.
Cultural value is a what makes the Leonardo's Mona Lisa more than a piece of canvas and paint. It does not translate directly into dollars even in the market place. Consider the compositions such as Mendelssohn's Overture "Hebrides" or Fingal's' Cave or The Rose of Tralee. They have given a profile to their areas way beyond any promotional campaign. It seems that here is our model for creating long term, deep value for our environment. It must be captured by art - not just 'high' art but popular art as well. After all the so called 'high' arts have their origins in excellence in popular or community art.
And someone has to create it.
The event or festival can get this process moving. It can be the place to release the new works and celebrate their object.
In my experience of these types of event there are two characteristics of the creators and organisers . Passion and professionalism. No matter how strong a person may feel for an issue it won't be effective in changing people's perspective if the event can't be organised. Correspondingly, all the organisation in the world will not create this indefinable cultural value without passion. It is beyond the scope of this paper to deal with passion.
However there are a number of professional issues that should be emphasised.
1. The long term aim of the event or festival is to embrace the environment region in a cultural artefact
2. The festival should be absolutely focused on the environment theme. All subsidiary event should not dilute this focus.
3. It is a celebration of an aspect of Australia, not an earnest way to convince people. The festival needs to be just that - a festival. It is very easy to forget that it is ultimately driven by the need to share a passion. It should be inclusive. At the Marshes concert, the Cotton Industry and their managers were invited - and came.
4. It needs an international perspective. The environment itself is ultimately linked to the rest of the world and so should the event. The internet provides a perfect medium for sourcing ideas, promotion, communication and sourcing overseas partners. It is surprising what support you can get from around the world for your festival.
5. The organisation of the festival need to be absolutely professional. The folk festivals that occur around the country may look friendly and relaxed, but behind the scene is a thoroughly professional approach to marketing and organisation..
6. The logo of the festival should be well thought out as it will act as a binding image for all aspects of the particular environment region in the future
The sense of place has to be more that a 'sense'. It needs to be integral to culture. It can be almost invisible and permeate the society. The Macquarie Marshes project demonstrated that this sense is at many levels. The International Convention on Wetlands already had the Marshes listed as a wetlands of world importance. However this was not enough to save it. The locals greatly respected the place. It had been a meeting place of the tribes. That was still not enough to keep it as a place. It was when it became the focus of a wider audience and had continual exposure that this 'sense' became a way to keep the place.