Partnerships for contemporary art : bridging diverging worlds

The modality of C3West is partnerships: it is an initiative constituted by the joining together of Sydney's premier contemporary art institution, the Museum of Contemporary Art (MCA), on the one hand, and three regional Western Sydney cultural institutions on the other: Penrith Performing & Visual Arts, Casula Powerhouse Arts Centre and Campbelltown Arts Centre. As C3West, these cultural partners wish to enlist business organisations in Western Sydney to invest in art projects for their own business benefit, as well as broader community benefit. Who these commercial partners are going to be and what kind of projects would be developed, involving which artists and with what kind of business, community and cultural outcomes, remains open-ended: it is precisely what C3West wishes to explore, delving into uncharted territory for all involved. Thus, C3West is a sprawling, shifting and continuously evolving web of multi-focal, cross-sectoral partnerships involving many participants and stakeholders, linked together variously and in different combinations in a multiplicity of conversations, negotiations and projects: gallery directors and their staff, representatives of businesses and corporations, and artists and their collaborators.