People from across Victoria’s creative industries will be able to collaborate and share ideas in a new ‘co-working’ space to be set up by the Australian Centre for the Moving Image (ACMI) – the first such facility to be set up by a major cultural institution in Australia.
Minister for Creative Industries Martin Foley has announced funding of $587,000 for ACMI X, a 60-seat creative co-working space in Melbourne’s Southbank creative industries precinct. Unlocking more spaces for creative practitioners, including collaborative hubs, was a key recommendation of Victoria’s Creative Industries Taskforce following extensive consultation in 2015.
“ACMI X addresses one of the most critical needs of our creative industries sector – access to affordable work space – breaks down existing barriers, and creates new opportunities for cross-pollination,” said Minister Foley.
ACMI X opens the doors to a new level of industry engagement, bringing together the Australian Centre for the Moving Image offsite staff – curators/programmers/producers and administrators, as well as housing the Melbourne offices of the National Film and Sound Archive (NFSA).
ACMI X will also offer affordable short and long-term accommodation to creative practitioners and small creative companies, across a range of disciplines, in a 2000sqm state-of-the-art office space in Kavanagh Street. It will also offer a calendar of specially curated networking and professional development events managed by a full-time producer.
Designed by Melbourne architects Six Degrees, the space will foster creativity, collaboration, experimentation and inspiration among industry peers. It will become a hub for a whole range of creators including film makers, script writers, game and app developers, graphic and web designers, writers and visual artists.
“At ACMI, we are developing a new type of creative institution by shifting to a model of co-creation with new collaborators and partners,” says ACMI CEO Katrina Sedgwick. “The creative economy has moved centre-stage, and cultural institutions like ours need to explore new ways of both supporting and collaborating with the next generation of creative talent. ACMI X will leverage our resources, intellectual capital and experience back into the creative sector.”
Applications for ACMI X are now open. For more information, visit: www.acmi.net.au for details.
Image: An artist’s impression of ACMI X – courtesy of ACMI