Bogong Centre for Sound Culture00:00

Projects Artists Shop Program Residency

Remote Origins

  • Operations Director: Madelynne Cornish
  • Artistic Director: Philip Samartzis
  • Design + Development: Public Office
  • PO Box 456, Mount Beauty, 3699,
    Victoria, Australia
  • EMAIL / FB / TW / IN

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 B-CSC 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 B-CSC 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 B-CSC is situated at the newly restored old school at Bogong Alpine Village located 350 kilometres from Melbourne in North East Victoria.

SH-Bogong

Acknowledgment of Country

The B-CSC acknowledge the Dhudhuroa, Gunai, Taungurung, Waywurru and Yaitmathang peoples as the First Nations and Traditional Owners of the land upon which the Bogong Centre for Sound Culture is located. We pay our respects to the Elders, past, present and future for they hold the knowledge and traditions of the land and waterways upon which we depend.

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
  • ISBN 0-646-36226-7. Published 1998

Notes from the Field

26.02—27.06.2021

Site and Sound: Sonic art as ecological practice

27.01—11.04.2021

The Kimberley

01.01—31.12.2021

Unheard Spaces

01.01—31.12.2021

Floe

01.01—31.12.2021

Cloud Affects

21.12—30.03.2020

Atmospheres and Disturbances

20.09—01.03.2020

Polar Convergence

24.08—20.10.2019

The Manifesto of Rural Futurism

26.07—11.10.2019

Polar Force

23.08—12.09.2019

B–CSC Winter Masterclass 2019: The Art of Field Recording

01—06.07.2019

MUTED LANDSCAPE

02.02—27.04.2019

Soundscapes in Nature - With Curious Creators

20—23.05.2018

Supercast

21—21.05.2018

A Futurist's Cookbook

21—21.03.2018

FLOE

19.01—18.02.2018

Super Field

07.12—17.02.2018

A Surrender to Wind in 9 Parts

12—12.10.2017

Current

10.08—17.09.2017

Common Ground

03.07—28.09.2017

Open Field

19.06—03.07.2017

The Ecology of Place

16—18.06.2017

PHANTASMAGORIA

07—30.04.2017

Polar Patterns

09.02—23.03.2017

Antarctica, An Absent Presence

01—01.12.2016

Sonic Interventions

10—24.06.2016

New Geography

26.01—18.02.2016

CURRENT

12.11—13.12.2015

Antarctique, Une Présence Absente

04—04.12.2014

Wind

28.07—06.09.2014

Electricity: Watts the story

01.11—30.04.2014

Cloud

28.02—16.03.2014

Bogong ELECTRIC

01.11—01.12.2013

Current CD

01.11—31.12.2013

Topography of Dreams

11.08—07.10.2012

Sounds of Weather

04—04.12.2011

Bogong AIR

19—20.02.2011