From 2012–22, the Ian Potter Moving Image Commission (IPMIC) was Australia's most significant long-term commissioning program of new moving image art by Australian artists.
A joint initiative of The Ian Potter Cultural Trust and ACMI, the biennial award was a ten-year $500,000 commitment to the art form. Through the partners, the commission provided two levels of support to the successful artists: $100,000 from the Trust and highly specialised curatorial, production and presentation expertise from ACMI.
The commission enabled mid-career artists to produce ambitious new works and demonstrate a major development or shift in their practice.
In addition to supporting artists in developing their professional practice, the commission series aimed to cultivate a greater understanding and appreciation of contemporary moving image art for Australian audiences.
Each commissioned work was accessioned into the ACMI Collection, where they sit alongside works by major Australian and international artists. Explore the works below.
In 2021, the Cultural Trust and ACMI devised a new initiative, the Creative Development and Mentorship Program, to support three IPMIC 2022 finalists.
The competitive pool of applicants and the high calibre of proposed moving image works impressed the IPMIC 2022 judging panel and inspired the initiative.
Through the collaborative program, three selected artists each received $20,000 and mentorship from ACMI staff to support the development of their proposed artworks.
The grants were awarded to Pilar Mata Dupont for La Piedra, Roberta Joy Rich for traced. and Nicholas Mangan for Core Coralations.
Angela Tiatia, 'The Dark Current', IPMIC, 2023. Image courtesy of the artist and Sullivan + Strumpf.
Angela Tiatia's single-channel video, The Dark Current, was conceived as a 'dream-like visual poem' in three parts that represent the past, present and future.
The artwork opens with a striking close-up of a glamorous woman with a pearl in her eye, who is slowly engulfed by water. The artist considers this scene an allegory of the promise that lured her mother’s generation to migrate from the Pacific Islands to countries like New Zealand and Australia in the 1960s.
Still from 'Darling Darling' by Gabriella Hirst.
Image taken at AGNSW, featuring Painting Conservator Andrea Nottage.
2020 Winner
Gabriella Hirst's Darling Darling presents two contrasting but linked responses to the idea of conservation.
A two-channel video, one side of the screen shows the meticulous care taken to restore WC Piguenit’s prized 1895 painting of the Barka-Darling River, The flood in the Darling, 1890, while the other side reveals the present-day neglect of the river itself.
Daniel Crooks with his Moving Image Commission work 'Phantom Ride' at ACMI, 2016.
2014 Winner
Daniel Crooks’ Phantom Ride alludes to cinema history to create a seamless journey through a composite reality.
By manipulating digital footage as though it were a physical material, Crooks has constructed a collaged landscape, taking us through multiple worlds and shifting our perception of space and time.
Angelica Mesiti, The Calling.
2012 Inaugural Winner
The Calling is a poignant exploration of ancient human traditions evolving and adapting to the modern world.
Angelica Mesiti's work speaks to the tenacity and creativity of traditional cultures in the face of technical progress and environmental flux.
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