CULTURAL INSTITUTIONS, REGIONAL ACTIVITIES

In reply to Mrs REDMOND (Heysen—Leader of the Opposition) (7 October 2010).

The Hon. M.D. RANN (Ramsay—Premier, Minister for Economic Development, Minister for Social Inclusion, Minister for the Arts, Minister for Sustainability and Climate Change): I have been advised the following:

Each of the institutions you mentioned, the Art Gallery of South Australia, Carrick Hill, South Australian Museum, History SA and the State Library of South Australia undertake activities for the benefit of South Australians outside of the metropolitan area.

You would be aware that the State's second Regional Centre of Culture (following on from Port Augusta, which has the honour of being our first, in 2008) was held in Murray Bridge in 2010.

The State Library of SA, SA Museum, Artlab, Carrick Hill and History SA have each contributed to the 2010 SA Regional Centre of Culture program in Murray Bridge.

History SA ensured that Murray Bridge was a focus during SA History Week in late May 2010, organising activities highlighting the history of the town. In addition, the 19^th State History Conference Cross-Currents: History, People and the Environment was hosted by History SA in Murray Bridge, with a program rich in histories of the River Murray and Lakes, and of the region's people, places and communities.

Specialist conservators from Artlab organised a three-day workshop Caring for Collections, in collaboration with History SA, at Murray Bridge's Pomberuk Cultural Centre in March 2010, for community museums, archives, galleries and libraries. Interactive sessions covered identifying risks to collections, managing the collection environment (including pest management), cleaning collection items and display storage areas and storing and displaying collection items (including textiles and paper).

The SA Museum took its Out of the Glass Case Roadshow, showcasing scientific and cultural collections and stories from the Murraylands, to the Murray Bridge Town Hall in July 2010, offering school workshops and a community day.

Carrick Hill's exhibition A passion for flowers has been on display in the Murray Bridge Regional Gallery and, to coincide with the exhibition, Carrick Hill's head gardener held an information session on dry climate gardening for the Murray Bridge community.

To support the celebrations for Murray Bridge as the 2010 Regional Centre of Culture, the State Library of SA (SLSA) published a new guide featuring a blend of SLSA content from Flickr populated on a Google Map, to provide the user with a Then and Now view of Murray Bridge. The guide is available at: http://guides.slsa.sa.gov.au/murraybridge. This application allows for SLSA content to be populated and discovered in established social networking spaces and provides for new opportunities to create more SA Memory content.

In addition to the cultural institutions' contribution through the Regional Centre of Culture program, a number of other regional programs are regularly undertaken. Some examples include:

bringing the SA Museum's Out of the Glass Case Roadshow to the APY lands: This Roadshow was many years in the making and was the largest and most complex road show to date. This project won the Ruby Award for Community Impact under $100,000 award and reached approximately 640 students from nine school communities.

improving online access to collections: As a number of the State's collections cannot tour due to requirements for environmental controls, the cultural heritage institutions continually work to make more of the State's collections acc3essible online. In 2009-10, the Art Gallery of South Australia added over 3,000 images of the State's impressive art collections online. This allows the public to have 24 hour access to heritage materials across the State, and indeed the world.

holding satellite events: The SA Museum Palaeontology Week also undertook a Roadshow, holding satellite events in Burra, Naracoorte, Kangaroo Island and Coober Pedy.

running grant programs to support regional South Australia: History SA runs two grant programs that support communities within and outside of the metropolitan area. The Community Museums Program provides advice, training and support to museums throughout South Australia. In 2009-10, $146,000 was provided for 29 projects around the state. The South Australian History Fund provides funding for individuals and community groups to undertake projects, publications and research relating to South Australia's history. This program provided $45,000 to 16 projects, seven publications and a research project.

As I've demonstrated, our cultural institutions regularly participate in a range of activities around South Australia. In addition, they are increasingly providing services and collections online, creating a pathway to these iconic institutions throughout South Australia and around the world.