News & Events

Blacktown City Council has triumphed above Councils from across the state in winning the award for Acknowledging Culture - Aboriginal Cultural Development at the 2007 Local Government Cultural Awards. Councillor Michelle Rowland accepted the award for Back Home - a theatrical work developed in a partnership between Blacktown Arts Centre (BAC) and Urban Theatre Projects in 2005/06, at the awards ceremony at the New South Wales Parliament House, Sydney on Friday, May 4, 20007.

The award recognises Council's commitment to empowering the urban indigenous Aboriginal communities of Blacktown through the development of creative works of national and international significance.

"This award is a fantastic boost for arts and culture in Blacktown City and reflects the outstanding vision, achievements and innovation that Blacktown Arts Centre is renowned for," Mayor of Blacktown City, Councillor Leo Kelly, OAM said.

Back Home was BAC's first partnership formed specifically for the development of local theatre. BAC worked in collaboration with Western Sydney based Urban Theatre Projects to work with the Blacktown community in developing an original work based on the stories and experiences of the region. The work focused on the contemporary experience of men from diverse cultural backgrounds and explored issues of masculinity and how this relates to expectations of self, family and community. The main work was supplemented by a bus trip through Western Sydney, guided by local Aboriginal elders that explored sites of historical significance to Indigenous people.

The work was selected to be part of the 2006 Sydney Festival and ran to capacity audiences for its duration, with all performances sold out a month before the performances. Next month, Urban Theatre Projects undertakes its first international tour when Back Home goes to Toronto, Canada to be featured at the inaugural Luminato Festival. The production will also tour Australia between August and November, 2007.

This is Council's third win in the Cultural Awards which celebrate the diverse range of cultural initiatives driven by local Councils in New South Wales. The first award was received in 2004 for the Battle of Vinegar Hill celebrations while the second award received in 2006 recognised best practice in the management and programming of Blacktown Arts Centre.

Council is committed to develop Blacktown into a City where culture and creativity enrich the lives of the whole community. This is evident in the establishment of a new Arts and Cultural team for Council in 2005, under which the Arts Centre is managed.

In April 2006, Blacktown Arts Centre re-opened its newly extended building at 78 Flushcombe Road, Blacktown, with a community open day which saw hundreds of community members celebrate with a day of music performances, exhibitions, artist talks and workshops for children. The extensions have provided the Centre with a state-of-the-art performance studio, a brand new workshop space, extended gallery space and a brand new landscaped courtyard. The $1.9 million project has been jointly funded by Blacktown City Council and the New South Wales Ministry for the Arts.