REGARDLESS of the rhetoric of corporate responsibility and the greater good, most corporations and business people become involved in arts bodies and foundations due to a personal interest in the arts.
REGARDLESS of the rhetoric of corporate responsibility and the greater good, most corporations and business people become involved in arts bodies and foundations due to a personal interest in the arts.
The interest, however, is reciprocal, with arts organisations and foundations interested in partnering with businesses that can assist them with their culturally diverse activities.
Fremantle-based Kulcha is one such organisation that hopes to gain a wider reach into Western Australia by targeting organisations that will be relying on overseas migrants to service their workforce.
Formed in 1983, originally as the North Perth Ethnic Music Centre, Kulcha has evolved from being a community/musicians organisation to a more comprehensive arts centre that specialises in culturally diverse arts and represents foreign artists both in terms of getting them work and assisting in the development of their careers in the arts industry.
When Jonathan Cope took over as Kulcha's general manager 10 months ago, he recognised the importance of the not-for-profit organisation becoming more widely recognised for facilitating greater social engagement within WA's multicultural society.
"The arts are a great catalyst that helps connect people and break down barriers that isolate culturally diverse migrants from their local community. Kulcha makes a significant contribution to helping culturally diverse arts reach a wider audience here in WA and assisting the artists in their career development," Mr Cope told WA Business News.
In order to grow its reach in WA, he said Kulcha was keen to work with businesses engaging with new migrants, such as large resources companies.
"A huge increase of skilled migration is required in the immediate future to service the major resource sector projects in WA," Mr Cope said.
"People will migrate to WA for work, but also for the lifestyle and opportunities for their families and future generations.
"They want to see that Perth and regional WA is an exciting, vibrant place, with appreciation, understanding and respect for people from other cultures.
"Where we fit in is to help these people integrate with the wider community and hopefully not just those workers but their families and their children, we can involve them with arts projects."
To appeal to the needs of the skilled migrant workforce expected in WA, Kulcha has combined an English language course with its renowned music program.
The organisation has partnered with Central Institute of Technology to twice a week teach foreign musicians the English language, but also assist them gain employment in the music industry.
The unique course teaches students practical skills, such as how to negotiate for a gig, how to write a biography, how to engage with the music industry, and how to fill out a festival application.
"It is geared towards culturally diverse issues with the aim of bringing these students into the industry and getting their confidence up to participating in the industry," Mr Cope said.
The program has enjoyed plenty of interest in its first year, with 10 students enrolled. Mr Cope said the program could extend for other types of arts to be incorporated with the English course if deemed viable.
"So we plan to increase our involvement with the business and commercial sector to create more opportunities for culturally diverse artists in the community," he said.
"I also want to develop business opportunities for the arts venue and we are introducing a number of strategies to encourage more usage from an increased variety of clients, both in terms of arts events, but also general private hire usage of the unique Kulcha building in non-performance times."
A recent example of this was the venue's use as a training facility.
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The interest, however, is reciprocal, with arts organisations and foundations interested in partnering with businesses that can assist them with their culturally diverse activities.
Fremantle-based Kulcha is one such organisation that hopes to gain a wider reach into Western Australia by targeting organisations that will be relying on overseas migrants to service their workforce.
Formed in 1983, originally as the North Perth Ethnic Music Centre, Kulcha has evolved from being a community/musicians organisation to a more comprehensive arts centre that specialises in culturally diverse arts and represents foreign artists both in terms of getting them work and assisting in the development of their careers in the arts industry.
When Jonathan Cope took over as Kulcha’s general manager 10 months ago, he recognised the importance of the not-for-profit organisation becoming more widely recognised for facilitating greater social engagement within WA’s multicultural society.
“The arts are a great catalyst that helps connect people and break down barriers that isolate culturally diverse migrants from their local community. Kulcha makes a significant contribution to helping culturally diverse arts reach a wider audience here in WA and assisting the artists in their career development,” Mr Cope told WA Business News.
In order to grow its reach in WA, he said Kulcha was keen to work with businesses engaging with new migrants, such as large resources companies.
“A huge increase of skilled migration is required in the immediate future to service the major resource sector projects in WA,” Mr Cope said.
“People will migrate to WA for work, but also for the lifestyle and opportunities for their families and future generations.
“They want to see that Perth and regional WA is an exciting, vibrant place, with appreciation, understanding and respect for people from other cultures.
“Where we fit in is to help these people integrate with the wider community and hopefully not just those workers but their families and their children, we can involve them with arts projects.”
To appeal to the needs of the skilled migrant workforce expected in WA, Kulcha has combined an English language course with its renowned music program.
The organisation has partnered with Central Institute of Technology to twice a week teach foreign musicians the English language, but also assist them gain employment in the music industry.
The unique course teaches students practical skills, such as how to negotiate for a gig, how to write a biography, how to engage with the music industry, and how to fill out a festival application.
“It is geared towards culturally diverse issues with the aim of bringing these students into the industry and getting their confidence up to participating in the industry,” Mr Cope said.
The program has enjoyed plenty of interest in its first year, with 10 students enrolled. Mr Cope said the program could extend for other types of arts to be incorporated with the English course if deemed viable.
“So we plan to increase our involvement with the business and commercial sector to create more opportunities for culturally diverse artists in the community,” he said.
“I also want to develop business opportunities for the arts venue and we are introducing a number of strategies to encourage more usage from an increased variety of clients, both in terms of arts events, but also general private hire usage of the unique Kulcha building in non-performance times.”
A recent example of this was the venue’s use as a training facility.
