New Sister City opportunity

Published on 29 July 2021

Council will look to forge a new Sister City relationship with Blacktown after a Mayoral Minute supporting the partnership was passed at last night's Council meeting.

The partnership would primarily focus on art and cultural exchanges, and build on an existing relationship between the Broken Hill Regional Art Gallery and Blacktown Arts.

Initial conversations between the Councils' respective Mayors have been positive, with collection sharing, art tours, artist exchanges, and staff exchanges all flagged as potential benefits for the future.

"This is an opportunity to consolidate our existing relationship with Blacktown and open a new avenue for cultural exchanges between our Councils," said Mayor Turley.

"It's always beneficial to better understand how galleries and museums are operated in metropolitan areas and what we can learn from their methods.

Sister City Committee Chair, Deputy Mayor Christine Adams, said the exchange could also pose a range of benefits for local artists.

"The opportunity for artists to share ideas, styles, and influences is very important," said Cr Adams.

"I think there's a shared curiosity regarding the differences in art and culture between our regions, and this is a great chance to explore that and provide greater exposure for everyone involved."

An addendum to consider whether the traditional sporting exchange between Broken Hill and Bankstown could be reinvigorated was also supported by Councillors, with Councillor Tom Kennedy nominated to investigate possibilities.

"We met with the Mayor of Canterbury-Bankstown in October 2018 and he made it quite clear that the days of sending hundreds of sports kids to be billeted out are gone," said Mayor Turley.

"However Councillors Kennedy and Algate remain keen to pursue the idea, so Councillors supported Cr Kennedy doing so via the Our Community Key Direction Working Group of which he is a member."