The Bogong Centre for Sound Culture is a remote-regional cultural initiative situated in the foothills of Victoria’s Alpine National Park. Established by Philip Samartzis and Madelynne Cornish the Centre supports projects focusing on the processes and impacts of sustainable energy production; effects of climate change in wilderness areas; ethnographic studies of remote communities; the chronicling of vanishing industrial procedures; and systems of representation used to render natural and built environments.
Additionally, the BCSC facilitates a broad cultural program comprising, festivals, exhibitions, publications, master classes and artists’ talks focusing on site-specific art practices. These programs establish a connection with place, its inhabitants, geographic space and memory. They engage a wide range of audiences, bringing together local, interstate and international artists across multiple disciplines and fields to realise ambitious works.
The BCSC is situated at the newly restored old school at Bogong Alpine Village located 350 kilometres from Melbourne in North East Victoria.
About Bogong Village
Bogong Alpine Village is 325 kilometres North-East of Melbourne situated at an altitude of 800 meters in the Alpine National Park between Mount Beauty and Falls Creek. The village was established in the late 1930s to service the first hydroelectric scheme in mainland Australia. More recently it has become a popular site for alpine sports, recreation and ecotourism. Click here for directions.
A Short History
Work on the Kiewa Scheme commenced in 1938 with the construction of a road from Tawonga to the High Plains. Previously the only access was by foot or horseback along tracks that had been forged by cattlemen of a bygone era. Bogong Village was established once the road from Junction Camp was trafficable (March 1939); this paved the way for the construction of permanent buildings. Prior to that life was tough; large canvas tents and flies were used for sleeping quarters and smaller tents were set up to house the kitchens. By 1940 Bogong Township had grown considerably with a general store, staff offices, recreational mess, police station, and a variety of accommodation such as single men’s quarters and residences for married staff and families.
Bogong State School
In 1941 the Primary School at Bogong Village enrolled its first intake of students comprising nine pupils. Initially the school consisted of a large classroom, storeroom and boys and girls toilets. Extensions were carried out in 1944, which expanded the capabilities of the school. A library, storeroom, pupil’s lunchroom and shelter shed were added and rock gardens were established. By 1947 the number of students had grown to 46 all of whom were children of local SEC workers. Over the years class sizes fluctuated and the building remained unchanged. In 1980 it ceased to operate as a school and sat idle, eventually falling into disrepair. In 2004 it was sold along with many other buildings in the village.
Madelynne Cornish and Philip Samartzis bought the Old School and set about restoring it to its former glory. The rotting weatherboards and floorboards, smashed windows and flaking paint are now a distant memory. The newly refurbished building occupies it’s original footprint and bares a strong resemblance to it’s former self. Although the internals have been modernized remnants of it’s past history remain. The Old School once played a significant role in the fabric of village life. It inspired the community and helped shape the minds of those who studied there. It is our intention as custodians that the School once again functions as a place of inspiration.
Reference: Kiewa Kids School Days at Bogong & Mount Beauty by Graham Gardner
The first week of Erin and my joint residency at Bogong has been spent building an extensive mental map of the region, slowly collecting pieces of audio and visual information along the way. Much of the aural environment is overwhelmed by the white noise of rushing water, so it has been important to inspect everything closely if we want to reveal something more subtle. Contact mics and macro lenses have been helpful in lifting this blanket of noise.
The landscape the Bogong High Plains road runs through is steep and wild with many a panoramic view near unmarked by human development. The most prominent human feature is consistently the power lines which cut through the valleys in straight clearings. These uninterrupted lines connect the towns and ski resorts to the water that flows through the valley by means of the Hydroelectric scheme. The Hydro scheme is less of an intrusion on the landscape than initially I would have thought. The massive retaining wall of the Rocky Valley Dam -the first, and largest of the scheme- almost disappears into the landscape when seen from a distance. Following the trail downstream, you could be forgiven for not actually noticing the next two Dams. They almost appear like the introduced Blackberry bushes that crawl through the valley: from a distance their weathered concrete can blend into the surrounding rock and their sheer height is not noticeable until you are alongside or below them, much in the same way a Blackberry is just another part of the bracken until you walk through one and are caught in its barbs.
On Thursday night we hauled what seemed like many tonnes of our equipment along the small path above the dam and down the uneven, stony stairs into the dam wall. We spent hours activating the space, resonating the different inner chambers with a guitar amplifier and microphone and illuminating the face of dam with floodlights.
