MIV Conference 2004 Gibson.pdf (200.78 kB)
Mechanics, gold and the uses of art
conference contribution
posted on 2006-09-19, 15:03 authored by Lisanne GibsonThis paper will argue that the origins of modern Australian cultural policy can be traced in the establishment of Australia’s first cultural institutions, the Mechanics’ Institutes. My aim is to investigate those cultural programs that were specifically established to target publics understood to lack access to culture and to be able to derive various benefits from the provision of such access. For Reverend Henry Carmichael, vice-president, Sydney Mechanics’ School of Arts in 1833, the provision of cultural programs was based on a double logic. It was to civilise those who were not civilised and to protect those who were, from ‘receding rapidly on the field of civilisation’ (1833, p.78). For reformers in mid-nineteenth century Australia, the development of cultural institutions with a ‘popular’ remit was specifically connected to the transformation of the colonies from convict to settler societies and then to the provision of civilising influences in the face of ‘gold fever’. It is on the basis of the governmental problems related to these transformations that we can understand the establishment of an Australian cultural infrastructure.
History
Citation
In: Buildings, books and beyond: Mechanics' Worldwide 2004. Proceedings of an International Conference. Windsor, Prahran Mechanics Institute Press, 2004, pp. 77-87Published in
In: BuildingsPublisher
Prahran Mechanics Institute Press, Windsor, Victoria, Australiaisbn
0975600001Available date
2006-09-19Notes
A paper presented at a conference held at Swinburne University, Melbourne, on 2-4 September 2004Language
enAdministrator link
Usage metrics
Categories
No categories selectedKeywords
Licence
Exports
RefWorks
BibTeX
Ref. manager
Endnote
DataCite
NLM
DC