SBS Showcases the Arts in Regional Communities
7 May 2009
In partnership with Regional Arts Australia, SBS will today launch a series of unique vignettes that showcase the depth of arts talent across regional Australia.
The artists’ stories will be unveiled this afternoon at the Sydney Opera House by SBS Managing Director Shaun Brown and Minister for the Environment, Heritage and the Arts, the Hon Peter Garrett MP.
The vignettes were created for the launch of SBS’s split regional signal which will reach 12 specific regional audiences across Australia.
Developed and produced by SBS, the stories demonstrate SBS’s commitment to Australia’s artistic and cultural community.
“SBS’s partnership with Regional Arts Australia is another innovative example of how SBS is supporting the artistic and cultural community in Australia,” said SBS Managing Director Shaun Brown.
“All of our content, apart from news, current affairs and sport, is commissioned from the independent production sector, which creates jobs, skills and investment in this important sector of the Australian economy.
“The vignettes we launch today are a unique way that SBS can marry its commercial imperative with our public service remit and our desire to support community groups who lack the resources to reach a broader audience.”
The Chair of Regional Arts Australia, Steve Grieve, said: “This is a wonderful chance to take the art and artists of rural and remote Australia into loungerooms across the nation. With one-third of Australians living outside our metropolitan centres, this is a great way of telling their stories and recognising the contribution that arts and artists making to enriching community life.
“We are extremely grateful to SBS for making this possible and for demonstrating such a commitment to regional Australia,” said Mr Grieve.
Based on a Regional Arts Australia book, Big Country: Great Arts Stories From Regional Australia, a series of eight 60, 30 and 15-second vignettes feature the unique stories of regional artists working in local communities around Australia.
All vignettes offer a unique perspective on arts in regional Australia combined with a true sense of local community.
A Northern Territory vignette features children in remote communities performing Atweme (drumming) as an extension of their schooling, and a Queensland vignette features a photographer’s perspective on life in outback Queensland.