CIFA: A Legacy of Cultural Exchange in Camden

Camden International Friendship Association

For over 30 years, Camden offered school students a wonderful opportunity to experience the excitement of travel and the thrill of living in another culture. A life-changing experience was available through a local student exchange program to Japan, organised by a local friendship association.

In 1993, the Camden International Friendship Association was founded by several teachers at Camden High to encourage student exchanges between Camden and Shonan, Japan. The exchanges flourished for many years, but in recent times, enthusiasm waned, and the association had disappeared by 2024.

Student exchanges predate CIFA in Camden, dating back to Rotary and other local organisations. At the national level across Australia, student exchanges continue to be popular through a number of organisations at the high school and university levels.

Student and adult international exchanges are a form of soft power that encourages transnational cultural cooperation, cultural exchange, and cosmopolitanism within Camden’s primarily Anglo community.

The Camden Art Collections Part 2, Alan Baker Art Gallery

CIFA’s legacy has not completely disappeared, and a number of artworks from the exchange programs are on display at the Albert Baker Art Gallery, from the CIFA collection of Camden Council, as part of the current exhibition, Camden Art Collections Part 2.

The Camden Art Collections Part 2 Catalogue states

This exhibition features a range of artworks. Among these are pieces from Shonan and Kashiwa City, Japan, presented through the Camden International Friendship Association (CIFA). (Percy 2026)

The exhibition at the Alan Baker Art Gallery features six artworks acquired by the Camden Art Collection through the annual Camden Art Prize from CIFA.

The featured artworks are

1. Masami Miyama’s Swan at Tega River (2002)
2. Massami Miyama’s Photographer of the Tiga River (2002)
3. Untitled
4. Katsushika Hokusai’s Thunderstorm Below Mount Fuji
5. Gico Hagakawa’s Sharship (1996)
6. Harumi Moriya’s Lake Teganuma in Early Summer (1997)

While the story of each artwork has been lost, they provide a striking and colourful part of Camden’s material culture and cultural memory.

Formation of CIFA

CIFA was formed under the administration of Camden Mayor Cr Theresa Testoni and established friendship links between Camden and Shonan, which was later incorporated in the city of Kashiwa in Japan.

Mayor Testoni thought it was an innovative idea to expose students from Camden High School to Japanese culture.

The proposal for a sister-city arrangement did not go well in Camden. The Camden RSL objected so it was converted to a friendship agreement. (Newton2012)

The two towns were formally linked in 1997 when Shonan’s Mayor Fujikawa and Camden Mayor Cr Frank Brooking ‘signed a friendship agreement on behalf of the councils and the citizens of the two towns’. (CIFA Camden Australia 2012) Mayor Brooking said, ‘We must look to the future of our young people.’ (Newton 2012)

CIFA was supported by the ongoing relations with members of the Kashiwa International Friendship Association (KIRA). An information leaflet stated

CIFA is a volunteer group which promotes international friendship and understanding between the people of Camden and the city of Kashiwa in Japan.

In 2012, CIFA was sponsored by Camden Council under section 355 of the NSW Local Government Act. (CIFA Camden Australia 2012)

Camden teachers Ken Newton, a foundational member of CIFA, and addressed the Camden Historical Society in 2012. He said the 1997 agreement

declared a desire by both communities “for friendship and mutual co-operation with each other‟. It agreed to mutual exchange programs in education, cultural studies and other activities. The aim of the agreement was contribute to “world peace resulting in prosperity and long lasting friendship for all‟.  (Newton 2012)

According to Ken Newton, the Japanese student exchanges were a ‘life-changing experience’ for local high school students, and resulted in many ‘strong and enduring friendships’. (Newton 2012)

Student Exchange Visits

Kashiwa high school students visited Camden in early August each year of the program’s operation for a 10-day visit. The students were ‘homestayed’ by Camden families.

The visit included visits to local high and primary schools, an overnight camp at Wooglemai in Oakdale, a bush dance, and visits to the Blue Mountains and Featherdale Wildlife Park.

A reciprocal 14-day visit was organised each year for local high school students during the Term 3 school holidays. Ten days were spent in family ‘homestays’, and the program included school attendance, participation in the KIRA Festival, and a day at Disneyland. The Camden students then travelled to Kyoto by ‘bullet train’ and visited a local castle, shrine and temples, and the Hiroshima Peace Park and Museum. (CIFA Camden Australia 2012)

In 1994, CIFA took 42 students to Japan, along with the Camden High School Band and their parents. There were band performances led by music teacher and conductor David Johnson. (Newton 2012)

There were a variety of groups that took advantage of the CIFA exchanges, including the Camden Tigers Soccer Club three times, 30 English students from UWS, a nine-month exchange for two Camden students, a three-month exchange for two Kashiwa students, and a teacher exchange. (Newton 2013)

According to teacher Noreen Newton, about 270 students and 70 adults have benefited from the CIFA programs between 1993 and 2013, with a similar number of Japanese on reciprocal visits to Camden. (Newton 2013)

Adult Visits

In addition to student visits, adult groups from Kashiwa visited Camden, and in return, CIFA organised ‘Cherry Blossom’ and autumn tours of Japan, combining visits to Kashiwa, Tokyo and Kyoto. In 2012, Ross and Janet Newport were the guides for 16 adults travelling to Japan in April. (Newton 2012)

There were also official visits by Camden mayors and councillors, as well as representatives from CIFA and KIRA. (CIFA Camden Australia 2012)

In 2007, Camden Mayor Chris Patterson, General Manager Greg Wright, and Cr Peter Johnson Kawisha, Chiba Prefecture, Japan, as part of the 10th-anniversary celebrations of CIFA. Kawisha Mayor Akira Honda presented Cr Patteson with a painting and a miniature sculpture by the renowned Japanese folk-craft artist and dollmaker, Japanese sculptor Setsutarou Matsumoto (1903-2004). The artist was characterised by the use of local clay and paper, often depicting characters from Kashiwa, Chiba Prefecture.

Mr Wright said, ‘The visit reaffirmed the friendship between Camden and Kashiwa.’ (Camden Advertiser, 25 April 2007)

According to CIFA president Alan McBride, the association was sending 15 exchange students and two teachers overseas each year. (Camden Advertiser, 25 April 2007)

Early signs of trouble for CIFA

By 2017, there were early signs that the exchange program was in long-term trouble. The exchange program was broadened and refocused to include a Youth Ambassador from Camden in Japan, aged 17 to 25. Camden Mayor, Cr Lara Symkowiak said,

This is a wonderful opportunity for confident, astute young people to travel overseas, learn about another culture and share their knowledge and experiences of living here in Camden.

Under this program, successfully selected ambassadors would be taught Japanese and be expected to represent

 CIFA at schools, local Council, civic events and local industry excursions where they will make presentations about themselves, hobbies, interests and talk about Camden as a place to live (in English). (Camden Council 2017)

By August 2022, support from Camden Council was waning. The minutes of the August 2022 meeting indicate that Camden Council would not support exchanges involving underage participants and expressed concern about the association’s lack of membership. Discussion focused on the viability of hosting mother-daughter groups and other possible arrangements. (CIFA 2022)

From mid-2022, Camden Council replaced the s355 committee, like CIFA, with Reference Groups, and Camden Council released the CIFA Reference Group Terms of Reference that year. (Camden Council 2022)

Video links were the order of the day by December 2023, when the meeting discussed the 2023 Social Inclusion Week and the involvement of Kashiwa Fourth Junior High School (30 students) and Camden High School and Oran Park Anglican College (15 students). CIFA 2023.

In 2024, CIFA was discussing a student exchange between Oran Park Anglican College and Kashiwa 8th Elementary School, as well as the Youth Ambassador program (CIFA 2024). Shortly after, the CIFA Reference Group disappeared from the council website.

Conclusion

The Alan Baker Art Gallery is currently showcasing some of CIFA’s legacy from years of student exchanges. The association may have come and gone, but its memory remains strong amongst its former supporters.

In an earlier generation, Australia was at war with Japan, and many grandparents of Camden’s CIFA exchange student would have vivid memories of this unhappy time. Today, student exchanges are a form of soft power that fosters interculturalism and cultural diplomacy.

Over three decades, CIFA sponsored transnationalism and intercultural cooperation. Many young people in Camden experienced a different culture while at school.

CIFA student exchanges have encouraged the growth of cosmopolitanism, tolerance of difference, and multicultural collaboration in Camden at a time when its identity was predominantly Anglo.

CIFA’s disappearance reflects demographic changes in Camden and the wider Australian community since the 1990s. Today, in 2025, over one million Australian tourists visit Japan, normalising what was once a different cultural experience for Camden people. (JNTO 2026)

Resources

Camden Council 2017.  Seeking young adults to travel to Japan. Media Release, Camden Council, Camden, 12 May. https://www.camden.nsw.gov.au/assets/pdfs/Media-and-News-Desk/media-releases/2017/2017-Media-Releases/Media-release-Seeking-young-adults-to-travel-to-Japan.pdf (Accessed 1 April 2026)

Camden Council 2022,  Camden International Friendship Association (CIFA) Reference Group Terms Of Reference. Online at https://www.camden.nsw.gov.au/assets/Uploads/Camden-International-Friendship-Association-Reference-Group-Terms-of-Reference-2023.pdf  Accessed 1/4/26

CIFA 2022, Minutes, CIFA Reference Group, Camden Council, Oran Park, 29 August. Online at https://www.camden.nsw.gov.au/assets/Uploads/CIFA-Reference-Group-Minutes-29-August-2022.pdf  (Accessed 1/4/26)

CIFA 2023. Minutes, CIFA Reference Group, Camden Council, Oran Park, 8 December. Online at https://www.camden.nsw.gov.au/assets/Uploads/CIFA-Reference-Group-Minutes-08-December-2023.pdf  Accessed 1/4/26.

CIFA 2024. Minutes, CIFA Reference Group, Camden Council, Oran Park, 16 February. Online at https://www.camden.nsw.gov.au/assets/Uploads/CIFA-Reference-Group-Minutes-16-Feb-2024.pdf    Accessed 1/4/26

CIFA Camden Australia 2012. Camden International Friendship Association. Information Leaflet, CIFA & Camden Council, Camden. Personal Archive.

JNTO 2026, Record ONE MILLION Australian travellers visited Japan during 2025 – up by 15%. Japan National Tourist Organisation, 22 January. Online at https://www.japan.travel/en/au/media-releases/record-one-million-australian-travellers-visited-japan-during-2025-up-by-15/ (Accessed 5/4/26)

Newton, Ken 2012. CIFA. Address to Camden Historical Society, Camden, 13 July.  Notes by Ian Willis.

Newton, Noreen  2013. The Story of CIFA. Camden History Journal, September 2013, v3, n6, 216-217.

Percy, Roger  2026. Camden Art Collections Part 2 Catalogue. Alan Baker Art Gallery, Camden.