Announcing ACMI X
ACMI Media Release, Australian First: Announcing ACMI X – ACMI creates a next generation creative hub, 3 February 2016
In a game changer for museums, the Australian Centre for the Moving Image (ACMI) today announces the first collaborative working space for the creative industries set up by a major cultural institution in Australia, ACMI X.
ACMI X co-locates the operational offices of ACMI with a 60 seat co-working studio in a 2000sqm state of the art office space, designed by award winning architects Six Degrees and located in the heart of Melbourne’s flourishing Southbank arts precinct. Additionally ACMI X will house the Melbourne offices of the National Film and Sound Archive (NFSA).
The brainchild of ACMI Director and CEO, Katrina Sedgwick, ACMI X is a new type of co-working community, one that unites start-ups and practitioners from across the creative industries alongside a renowned cultural institution committed to redefining the role of the museum in the 21st Century by exploring the possibilities that lie at the intersection of culture, technology and entrepreneurship.
Supported by Creative Victoria, Minister for Creative Industries Martin Foley said today ACMI X will provide an excellent opportunity for Victoria’s cultural economy.
“ACMI X is an exciting new model that rethinks the role our major cultural institutions play in our creative ecosystem. It addresses one of the most critical needs of our creative industries sector – access to affordable accommodation – breaks down existing barriers, and creates new opportunities for cross-pollination and collaboration,” said Mr Foley.
“It’s this sort of creative approach and new way of working that will enable us to innovate and grow Victoria’s $23 billion creative and cultural economy into the future.”
Katrina Sedgwick, Director and CEO of ACMI, said today ACMI is responding to the industry’s innovation and sustainability imperatives.
“The creative economy has moved centre stage and 21st Century museums like ours need to explore new ways of both supporting and collaborating with the next generation of creative talent,” said Ms Sedgwick.
“ACMI has a unique remit through its celebration of the moving image right across the creative industries. With ACMI X we are deepening this, by creating a new arm of our institution which supports artists and industry as an active enabler in the development of their art, work and businesses. ACMI X will not only leverage our resources back into the creative sector – and bring the energy and ideas of practitioners directly into our daily practice – but will actively foster collaboration between the creative industries.”
A range of cross disciplinary practitioners will co-work alongside ACMI’s curatorial, production and administrative staff, creating a dynamic engine room for the museum of the 21st Century. From tech start-ups to film makers, script writers to game and app developers, graphic and web designers to visual artists, and theatre makers working with the moving image, ACMI X will house talent from the next generation of game changers that are shaping the way we create and consume content and, importantly, it will help nurture Australian businesses and cultural entrepreneurs of tomorrow.
The ambitious initiative will foster creativity and collaboration, experimentation and inspiration and will expand the way ACMI engages with industry and practitioners. Developed with consultant Peter Tullin, Co-Founder of REMIX Summits, ACMI X will be managed by a full-time Producer and offer its tenants a vibrant calendar of specially curated networking and professional development events developed in partnership with ACMI, REMIX Academy and a number of industry partners.
One of ACMI’s key partners, the National Film and Sound Archive, will join ACMI in ACMI X. NFSA CEO, Michael Loebenstein today said: “We are very excited to take our partnership with ACMI to the next level, with the launch of ACMI X. The NFSA and ACMI share the same indisputable passion for the moving image, and a desire to share our amazing collections with the widest possible audience, and to inspire the creative industries to produce new stories and works.”
Sixty ACMI X places are available for the short and long term, with entry by application. A practical and vibrant place to work and meet designed to facilitate collaboration and peer learning, the facilities include office infrastructure and high speed internet, meeting rooms, a multipurpose events space, café area and amenities including bicycle parking.
ACMI X opens for business in April 2016. Applications are now open via acmi.net.au/acmix
See also:
David Tiley, ACMI X makes a place for living creators, ArtsHub, 3 February 2016