The art and power of connection

So many things motivate businesses to support the Arts but one thing is for sure: if you get it right, the mutual benefits are extraordinary.

This year Telstra marks 25 years of supporting the National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art Awards (NATSIAA) – running in Darwin. Our connection has grown to a point where they are part of our identity and a source of enormous organisational pride.

I wanted to share my thoughts on why the NATSIAA are so important, and why a technology company like Telstra is involved.

A lot to celebrate

When you look at the great diversity and richness of the NATSIAA over the past 33 years you quickly realise there is an enormous amount to celebrate.

The remarkable quality of the work, the growth in the level of national and international interest, and the way the Awards underline the vibrant and distinctive creative talents of indigenous artists from across the land.

Also worth celebrating is the incredibly passionate conversations the works inspire; conversations that often transcend culture, geography, history and even politics and confirm the reputation and real importance of the Awards.

For Telstra this year we are celebrating the 25th anniversary of support and sponsorship of the Awards.

Why is Telstra involved?

People sometimes ask why we are involved in the NATSIAA. It is a fair question: after all, the link between a company like Telstra and indigenous art is not always an obvious one.  However there is a clue in our vision – ‘to be a world class technology company that empowers people to connect’.

It is the idea of connection – to country, to community and to culture – that runs through so much indigenous art that is at the heart of our support over the past 25 years.

The NATSIAA are a collaboration between Telstra and the Museum and Gallery of the Northern Territory (MAGNT). We provide funding and in-kind support. This includes technology, marketing, prize money and a fund with which MAGNT acquires selected works drawn from finalists that are identified at the gallery as the ‘Telstra Collection’ for all to enjoy.  This year, to celebrate our 25th year of involvement we published a book highlighting the collection.

The MAGNT administers the awards – sets the criteria, selects the judges, receives the works, and curates the exhibition.

Old and new

By welcoming both traditional and contemporary works, the NATSIAA always surprise and sometimes gives rise to a view that it is political themes that steal the limelight. I would like to think that is not the case and reflect on many traditional works that have found success at the Awards – Dolly Snell’s work Kurtal last year won the overall prize and Nonggirrnga Marawili’s amazing work on bark. However, true or not, political ideas have always run hot through art because they are part of the narrative of society.

That is particularly true in indigenous communities where there are many challenges and yet art here is a universal positive. Art originates out of traditional ceremony, story-telling and dreaming which is all tied back to culture. Art is powerful and important because it is one way, one medium, where communities and generations can stay connected to each other, to their past, and to their future. It provides a sense of purpose both for those directly involved, and for those of us seeking to better understand indigenous culture and history. It also brings some modest economic benefit.

The stories these artists tell through their work are not always comfortable (in fact they can sometimes be heavy with dispossession and despair) but for the whole of its history art has been a medium to tell such stories.

Beyond the Awards

For as long as Telstra (and Telecom and the PMG before that) has existed, we have had a special on-the-ground relationship with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.

It is a relationship that has changed over time, as technology has changed, and our connection (in every sense of the word) has deepened.

Our links can be traced back to the laying of the overland telegraph from Adelaide to Darwin in 1872, the first time Australia had fast communication with the rest of the world.

Today it is fibre optic cable we are laying, and transmission towers and base stations we are installing, to connect the remotest parts of Australia and the people who have lived there for millennia. In one way or another we have been working together for more than 140 years.

Connection...for everyone

Many companies publish a Purpose statement and ours is ‘to create a brilliant connected future, for everyone’. It sums what we do in one sentence, it gives our work meaning and guides our actions and our future direction.

The words ’for everyone’ are crucial and given special meaning by the challenges often faced by many Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.

According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics around one-third of households identified as having Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander residents have no internet access, compared to 17% for non-Indigenous households.

Around half of all low income Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander households have no internet connection at all.

These are sobering statistics that mean many indigenous Australians are simply missing out on the opportunities and possibilities of being connected through mobile and digital services.

That has to change and Telstra is playing a play a key role in making sure it does. Just how is spelled out in our Reconciliation Action Plan (RAP) 2015-18.

Our work so far has included:

• Co-investing, with the Northern Territory Government, $15 million each over three years to install mobile base stations and broadband for remote communities;
• Partnering with Federal and State governments through the mobile black sport programme to bring connectivity to underserviced areas;
• Partnering with the Swinburne Institute of Social Research to complete a research project to better understand the nature of cyber bullying in an Aboriginal context, and identifying and promoting effective prevention strategies;
• Creating the digital literacy program inDigiMOB which, in partnership with the Indigenous Remote Communications Association, has created a network of Indigenous mentors living in remote communities to provide on the ground training and support in digital literacy, cyber safety and internet access for local community members;
• Launching the IDX initiative which looks at how new technologies can solve old problems strengthen Indigenous participation, practice and entrepreneurship in the digital economy.
• Providing digital skills training through the Tech Savvy Elder program; and,
• Developing the Place to Belong program to promote Telstra as an employer of choice for Indigenous people.

Our RAP says reconciliation requires more than just words; it says we are accountable, that we want to achieve something meaningful.

This determination to connect meaningfully extends to our involvement in the NATSIAA.

Opening pathways

The common thread linking the 75 finalists in the NATSIAA this year is the enormous depth of their reflection on the past, present and future for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.

The works reveal dreams for a future that is very different from today and it is encouraging that so many Australians – individuals and organisations alike - are committed to making those dreams a reality.

And perhaps that is the ultimate measure of the success of these Awards; that they provide a creative and cultural force that erodes barriers between people, allowing us all to connect and open pathways previously closed because it is the connection that they facilitate that is so important.