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August 14, 2007
As I mentioned in the previous post I wandered around Canberra's CBD on Sunday afternoon taking the odd photograph. This area seemed to be walkable one in a city literally driven by the automobile. Clearly the fluidity across fashion, art, music, and design---the cultural economy--- was not there in Kingston or Manuka.
I was on the lookout for the creative industries like fashion, art, and music that drive the economy of Canberra as much as--if not more than--finance, real estate, and law. Did they exist? Is art and culture a meaningful part of an urban, regional, economy?
Gary Sauer-Thompson, Christians, Canberra 2007
A Korean Christian rock band was playing in the mall and the audience was small. This was the main event in the mall. Though the shops were open there were few people around. An few couples strolled by, a dog wandered around looking for food, and an odd family or two hung around.
Where was everybody I wondered? Where is the urban life in out capital city? Is it just a bureaucratic city? Where was the grungy rock club that launches the best new bands?
Gary Sauer-Thompson, Canberra CBD, 2007
I followed the movement of people through the mall to the more modern part of the CBD---the new shopping precinct. There was more life here. It felt more urban than the strange mall. I had to yet to find the creative industries fueled by the social life that whirls around the clubs, galleries, music venues, and fashion shows where creative people meet, network, exchange ideas, pass judgments, and set the trends that shape popular culture.
Would the graffiti artist also work for an advertising agency? Where woud I find the cultural clustering in the broader “downtown scene”?
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yeah, we were struck by how few people were wandering the streets on a sunny sunday afternoon, although it is made more obvious by the broad mall.. actually, its kind of creepy with the empty carousel singing its tune to the wind.. the Old Bus Depot markets definately have more custom and charm..