A word from our CEO: The beginning and the end

Over the past three decades, The Ian Potter Foundation and The Ian Potter Cultural Trust have supportedArt Commissions in various forms to support established artists creating in the mediums of sculpture, music composition, and currently moving image art.

Last month, we were delighted to announceAngelaTiatia as the winner of the final $100,000 Ian Potter Moving Image Commission (IPMIC). It is both the beginning of an exciting new work and the end of a decade-long series of commissions in moving image art.The IPMIC 2022 judging panel was so impressed with the competitive pool of applicants, that for the first time the Cultural Trust andACMI will support three runner-up artists via a six-month Creative Development and Mentorship Program.

You can learn more about IPMIC 2022 winnerAngelaTiatia, her commissioned work Liminal Persuasion (working title), and the Creative Development and Mentorship Program grantees below

The long-awaited premiere exhibition of IPMIC 2020 Darling Darling by Gabriella Hirst opened atACMI in February The planned 2020 premiere of the commission was postponed due toACMI’s extended closure as a result of its redevelopment works and COVID-19 restrictions. I would like to congratulate Gabriella on her outstanding new work which contrasts the preservation of a colonial painting of the Darling River and the reality of environmental preservation in the Barka Darling region.

Darling Darling highlights the critical importance of preservingAustralia’s freshwater resources. It is my hope that the recent establishment of an independent water and catchment policy centre, supported byThe Ian Potter Foundation and a coalition of 16 Australian philanthropic foundations, will be a catalyst for change in how this precious resource is managed.

With IPMIC slowly coming to a close and our emerging artist development grants paused due to travel restrictions, we have initiated an evaluation of the Cultural Trust's grant programs.The evaluation will seek to understand how the Cultural Trust grant programs benefit artists and how we might improve the impact of the Trust’s grants. We look forward to the new insights we will gain from this process.

Lastly, I hope that you are all safe, healthy, and able to pursue your creative goals despite the continued disruption of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Craig Connelly CEO

2020 Ian Potter Moving Image Commission Darling Darling

The long-awaited premiere exhibition of IPMIC 2020 Darling Darling by Gabriella Hirst opened atACMI in February Darling Darling presents two contrasting visions of the Barka Darling River in dialogue with each other and explores the contradictions in how we revere nature in art yet exploit and degrade it in reality The major moving image installation explores notions of care, containment, and how depictions of nature reveal underlying cultural and political values.

Owing to new circuit-breaker restrictions keeping Victorians safe,ACMI and the Darling Darling exhibition are currently closed. Learn more about Darling Darling in the video above.

Angela Tiatia awarded IPMIC 2022

The final in a decade-long Ian Potter Moving Image Commission (IPMIC) series has been awarded to paint, sculpture, video installation, and performance artistAngelaTiatia.

The $100,000 commission will make possible Tiatia’s new video work,Liminal Persuasions(working title), which will have its world premiere atACMI in 2022 and enter theACMI Collection.

Tiatia's work explores contemporary culture, drawing attention to its relationship to representation, gender, neo-colonialism, and the commodification of the body and place.

The final in a decade-long Ian Potter Moving Image Commission (IPMIC) series has been awarded to paint, sculpture, video installation, and performance artistAngelaTiatia.

The $100,000 commission will make possible Tiatia’s new video work,Liminal Persuasions(working title), which will have its world premiere atACMI in 2022 and enter theACMI Collection.

Tiatia's work explores contemporary culture, drawing attention to its relationship to representation, gender, neo-colonialism, and the commodification of the body and place.