Australian Centre for Photography Enters 'Hibernation'
'Continuing to operate in our current form is a pathway to extinction,' said Chairman Michael Blomfield.
Liam Young, Still from Choreographic Camouflage (2020). Courtesy the artist and the Australian Centre for Photography.
Short on income, the Australian Centre for Photography (ACP) announced it will go into 'hibernation' from 16 December. Founded in Sydney in 1973, the ACP is one of Australia's leading art institutions focused on lens-based media.
ACP Chairman Michael Blomfield said, 'In the face of massively reduced income in the COVID era, and the reality that our organisation will not receive any operational funding from federal or state funding bodies for the next three years as a minimum, it is clear that continuing to operate in our current form is a pathway to extinction.'
'While the decision we have made to move the organisation into a period of hibernation is a painful one, the Board believes that securing our long-term future in any form requires the protection of our capital now,' he said.
Pierre Arpin, Director and CEO of the ACP, told Ocula Magazine hibernation 'means we are ceasing all public programs (exhibitions and workshops) and taking some time to determine what new model could be developed that would continue to serve the art of photography in Australia.'
A subcommittee of the Centre's board will consult stakeholders to explore ways for the ACP to maintain a permanent presence.
The ACP is not alone in their fight for survival. In May, Art Fund found that over half of UK museum directors were worried about the long term viability of their institutions, and in July The American Alliance of Museums found that a third of US museum directors felt the same way.
Arpin said he wasn't sure if 'hibernation' would be a good option for other struggling art institutions or if it was something they were already exploring.
The ACP's current exhibition, From hereon: posthuman, nonhuman, antihuman closes on November 28. Their final exhibition before hibernation, Photostart 2020, explores architecture, fashion, studio, and street photography. It runs from 3–16 December. —[O]
