
Notes from the Field
26.02—27.06.2021
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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