School of Art partners with Australian Network for Art and Technology

School of Art partners with Australian Network for Art and Technology

RMIT’s School of Art and the Australian Network for Art and Technology (ANAT) have established a new three-year partnership that will generate opportunities for artists to connect, research and experiment with science and technology partners.

By engaging artists with collaborators from these sectors, the partnership will diversify national and international interdisciplinary networks, contribute to development of new knowledge that can be applied to learning, teaching and research practices, and support the growth and success of Australia’s artistic communities.

Professor Kit Wise, Dean School of Art, said that the partnership is built on a shared belief that art and creative practice brings unique insight to emerging technologies and their potential.

“In the School of Art, experimentation through creative practice with both old and new technologies is the foundation for our teaching and research,” he said.

“Through partnerships such as this, we hope to look ahead to future possibilities, enabling the next generation of practitioners and innovators with a particular focus on those from diverse backgrounds.

“We greatly admire the leadership of ANAT in reimagining the world by building connections between art, science and technology and very much look forward to the valuable exchange of knowledge, ideas and artistic discovery that this partnership will enable.”

RMIT’s School of Art is an international hub for innovation and diversity in the disciplines of art and photography. The School has a deep commitment to climate action, social justice, inclusive democratic practices, and a path to reconciliation with First Nation’s peoples through art and photography practices.

a screen with an image of a road with baron land either side of it and cloudy blue skies aboveANAT SPECTRA 2022 at RMIT’s The Capitol. Artwork featured: Sensing Environments, Leah Barclay, Tricia King, David Harris and Lyndon Davis (Gubbi Gubbi). Photograph Elliott Bledsoe.

Benefits of connection

Professor Naomi Stead, Director of RMIT’s Design & Creative Practice Enabling Impact Platform, said there are many benefits in connecting the exploratory, speculative and critical acuity of creative practitioners with cutting edge science and technology practice.

“At RMIT there is a unified sense of purpose in pursuing ambitious transdisciplinary research which brings benefit and positive change to the world, especially in the pursuit of social, spatial and environmental justice.

“Such impact-focused transdisciplinary collaborations are not always easy, but organisations like ANAT provide a crucial structure and armature to value the role of creativity and bring researchers and practitioners together across disciplines – which is needed now more than ever.”

Brokering unique opportunities

ANAT is a global leader in brokering unique opportunities for artists to work with science and technology partners.

With strong relationships across industry, academia, the community and government, ANAT expedites experimentation and innovation in art, science and technology facilitating connections that enable artists to contribute meaningfully to Australia’s reputation for creativity, diversity and innovation.   

Melissa DeLaney, ANAT CEO, said ANAT is the strength of its network and partnerships.

“It is through this work that highly valued collaborations occur and where new and emerging artforms and knowledge evolves,” she said.

“The partnership with RMIT University is a space to enable multi-disciplinary thinking, vital creative practice, research and conversations to occur.

“ANAT looks forward to working with RMIT and its communities, in exploring potentialities in art, science and technology.

“By placing artists as collaborators in the science and technology sectors, we witness the creation of new perspectives and fresh insights, and different ways of thinking. “

The partnership commences mid-2023.

Learn more about RMIT’s School of Art.

Story by: Rosie Shepherdson-Cullen

12 April 2023

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