Mordant Family Moving Image Commission for Young Australian Artists
A three-year commissioning program that supports young artists to create contemporary moving image works.
The Mordant Family Moving Image Commission for Young Australian Artists, created in partnership with Professor Cav. Simon Mordant AO and Catriona Mordant AM, ACMI, John Allsopp from Web Directions and the City of Melbourne, builds on the success of the Mordant Family VR Commission.
This commission resources artists 35 years and under to undertake research, collaborate with experienced mentors and engage professional technicians or performers to create a work that will be exhibited at ACMI and enter the ACMI Collection. ACMI will provide curatorial and production support to each successful project.
The commission will award $50,000 to the third and final recipient, Serwah Attafuah, in December 2023. This support is being provided by Professor Cav. Simon Mordant AO and Catriona Mordant AM, ACMI and John Allsopp from Web Directions.
The commission awarded $80,000 in funding to Jason Phu (2021) and Stanislava Pinchuk (2019). This support was provided by Professor Cav. Simon Mordant AO and Catriona Mordant AM, ACMI, John Allsopp from Web Directions and the City of Melbourne.
The Mordant Family Moving Image Commission for Young Australian Artists support projects that reference contemporary social, cultural or political issues with energy and originality and is open to artists working across a range of formats including film, video, interactive installation and mixed reality.
2023 recipient: Serwah Attafuah
Known for creating surreal cyber dreamscapes and Afrofuturistic artworks with contemporary themes, Serwah Attafuah will receive $50,000 to make a new screen-based work titled The Darkness Between the Stars.
Attafuah’s multi-disciplinary practice includes digital painting, 3D animation, motion capture, digital animations, and virtual reality.
2021 recipient: Jason Phu
Leading Melbourne-based visual artist Jason Phu’s multi-disciplinary practice includes drawing, installation, painting and performance.
Phu’s work, Analects of Kung Phu: Book 1, The 69 Dialogues between the Lamp and the Shadow, seeks to reclaim "wise" sayings from martial arts and Wuxia films and recontextualise them into a contemporary "guide to life" which addresses current problems faced by individuals and society.
Analects of Kung Phu: Book 1, The 69 Dialogues between the Lamp and the Shadow was shown at ACMI on 2 Dec 2021 – 30 Jan 2022
2019 recipient: Stanislava Pinchuk
The recipient of the inaugural $80,000 Mordant Family Moving Image Commission for young artists is Stanislava Pinchuk. Pinchuk's project was delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic and is currently in pre-production.
Pinchuk will premiere her work at ACMI and an edition will become part of our collection.
Proudly supported by Professor Cav. Simon Mordant AO and Catriona Mordant AM, John Allsopp (Web Directions), City of Melbourne and ACMI.
