Doing cultural work: Local postcard production and place identity in a rural shire

Postcards from Somewhere: ‘marginal’ cultural production, creativity and community

“…With a 30-year history and involving 20 residents (13 of whom are female) across this period, this production includes the work of individuals and voluntary community committees such as Ravensthorpe Hopetoun Area Promotions (RHAPS), and informal art groups. As I have argued elsewhere (Mayes 2009), this local production of postcards plays an important role in the ongoing construction and circulation of place identity and in the representation and embodiment of rurality more broadly. To make postcards is also to participate in and engage with a substantial and highly conventionalised cultural industry and communicative practice with a significant role in the (potentially mass) production and circulation of (popular) meaning (Kennedy 2005;Pritchard & Morgan 2005;Sigel 2000).…”

“…They mentioned seemingly unrelated affiliations with, for example, the Southern Scribes or the Wildflower Show together with assertions about broader community involvement encapsulated in the following assertion: 'I'm pretty much a community person.' This production occurs not only in a broader field of local cultural work and community networks (Mayes 2009) but is also situated in a particular 'type' and history of community. The narratives offered by two producers with long-term residencies in the Shire draw attention to the intertwined emergence of community and cultural work.…”

“…The community postcard production as a fundraising strategy (Mayes 2009) is part of this tradition of cultural work in the service of community needs. Presented by interviewees as marginal, though important, to their individual lives, cultural work and products more broadly are concurrently understood as central to 'community'.…”

How Nascent Community Enterprises Build Legitimacy in Internal and External Environments

“…Although relatively few studies have been undertaken examining the creative sectors in rural areas, the results suggest that sense of place and local rural identity contributes to the production of art and culture (MAYES, 2010;BAYLISS, 2004). Importantly, the role of cultural capital as a major contributor to rural economic performance has been increasingly recognized (TAYLOR, 2013;HUGGINS and CLIFTON, 2011;HUGGINS and THOMPSON, 2015), and there is an emerging interest in both the distinctiveness and potential contribution of the arts and creative sectors in rural areas (BAYLISS, 2004;BELL and JAYNE, 2010).…”

“…Local arts and cultural activities have been found to strengthen sense of place and community identity, and enhance civic participation, social interaction and the well-being of remote and rural residents (MAYES, 2010;ANDRES and CHAPAIN, 2013). While prior studies have debated the socio-economic value of local cultural activities (BOYLE, 1997), our study makes a novel attempt to uncover the entrepreneurial process by which new cultural activities in remote rural communities can be created and sustained.…”