MARK CAIN is a freelance musician who lives and plays in Fremantle and was recently appointed a life member of Kulcha.

AS a musician whose ongoing involvement with Kulcha in Fremantle (and formerly, North Perth) dates back to the original North Perth Ethnic Music Centre some 30 years ago, I am deeply dismayed to hear of its cessation due to lack of future funding.

This state owes a huge debt to Kulcha for the role it has played in broadening the base of WA music, its championing of new migrant musicians and the critical developmental role it has played as a feeder organisation into major Australian music festivals such as our own, Fairbridge Festival, Woodforde (Qld), Port Fairy (Vic) and the National Folk Festival (ACT), to name a few.

First, some background on Kulcha and why it is so important in the fabric of WA music. In 1983 the EMC (North Perth Ethnic Music Centre) was established by Sydney musician Linsey Pollak who recognised the depth of untapped musical talent amongst immigrant populations in our cities.

Potential

After returning to Australia from living and studying in Macedonia amongst village musicians (looking for new ways to invigorate his own musical direction), Pollak saw the potential of establishing an organisation to nurture and promote Australian musicians of immigrant background. After touring with a band in WA, his vision led to the establishment of Café Folklorico, a small performance venue based at the North Perth Town Hall and to a remarkable stream of musicians of diverse cultural backgrounds who played there and gave it a unique identity.

The EMC had created a voice and a platform for some extraordinary talent to display their skills. But this wasn’t just about creating a venue or even about the performance opportunities that might ensue, important as these ideals were. It wasn’t even about the two Ethnic Arts Festivals (organised by the EMC) set in the gardens at Hyde Park, Northbridge, in which thousands of people thronged to see this vibrant new sub-culture in action. It was about a bigger picture of how Australian music itself might be invigorated and how musicians of different backgrounds, non-western, indigenous and generationally Australian, might come together to create new possibilities in Australian music.

This brings me to another strand. Excepting our indigenous culture we in this country are all immigrants and still in the relatively early stages of forging an Australian musical identity. We take so much for granted.

For instance, let’s look at the evolution of the Australian dining experience: where would we be had we not been exposed to the culinary delights of the world? And, surprise, no turn back the restaurants policy yet on the table with the government. Indeed we can’t get enough of an endless stream of celebrity chefs creating “fusion cuisine”.

But in music and in the arts where these cross-pollinating influences are generating an equally remarkable vitality, much of our population (including our politicians) seem blithely disinterested, as though overcome with palsy.

Much of this country remains similarly anaesthetised to the art forms of opera and what we broadly term orchestral music, but appropriately, these are subsidised (indeed, very well) at both state and federal levels, because somehow we understand how much the poorer we as a nation would be without this public investment.

The same argument should unequivocally hold true for the funding of our multicultural arts, because they hold a mirror up to the reality of this country’s cultural diversity. This is who we are and we are so much the richer for it.

And in this state Kulcha has been the generative hub from which new creations emerge. The organisation has provided opportunities for countless musicians, many of whom now perform at festivals around the country.

Remarkable

Others, performing in lower profile settings, are no less important. Their voices may not be so often heard, nor will they play in front of huge audiences, but they are very often remarkable. These are musicians who may not play familiar western instruments or sing recognisable harmonies or melodies.

Often what they play is neither generic, nor mainstream nor, indeed, popular. But their music opens up our ears to new ways of listening and engaging. Isn’t this what art does?

So, without the advocacy and nurture of Kulcha, where will these musicians play? And where will audiences now go to hear this music live? This is what has made Kulcha unique and much loved amongst its membership. And it is what Kulcha has been doing for 30 years and with remarkable success.