me·dia te: the ANAT National School for New Media Art Curation, has evolved out of a recognition that to nurture art which utilises technology, adequate education of curators and arts workers must also be undertaken. As new technologies become increasingly critical to art practices, it is important to provide skill-based education for curators wishing to extend their practice into this area.

ANAT has been holding National Summer Schools for artists since 1989. The School is the only intensive training program in Australia devised specifically for artists who want to upskill in uses of new technologies. The success of these schools is demonstrated by the significant number of Australian artists who have achieved national and international recognition as artists working with technologies, following their participation in the school. Many graduates of the ANAT Summer Schools have gone on to participate in major international events such as SIGGRAPH, ISEA, Ars Electronica.

Whilst Australian artists have now achieved international acclaim for their work, many artists still have difficulty in having their work shown within Australia. One of the key explanations for this predicament cited by many artists, is that decision-makers, such as curators and arts administrators, remain reticent to show work by technology-based practitioners. This is partly due to perceived pragmatic issues associated with equipping new media exhibitions, but also due to a lack of understanding of technology-based practice, and the design and display issues presented by interactive artworks.

me·dia te aims to address these issues by training curators and arts workers using ANAT's acclaimed National Summer School for artists as a working model. Educating curators in technology-based art presentation and critical discourse will improve opportunities for Australian artists to have their work seen in an Australian context.

Acknowledging that the needs of curators are very different to artists, me·dia te will skill curators in all aspects of interactive new media and technological based art presentation, including the following areas:

• Access to local and overseas art work using new technologies
  Consultation with curators has indicated that access to contemporary new media work needs to be improved for curators to develop a critical overview of artists' work. me·dia te will address the issue of access by facilitating presentations of artwork by leading Australian and international new media art specialists, and will also explore furthering connections between curators, curatorial organisations and resource networks to ensure ongoing dissemination of material.

• Exploration of gallery space and exhibition design
  Though education in traditional installation and exhibition practices is relatively accessible, training for optimising the presentation of art using new technologies is not so readily available. Incorporating the skills of exhibition designers, me·dia te aims to address this issue by giving practical demonstrations and workshops on design issues associated with new media installation.

• New Media Art Theory
  In order to theoretically contextualise new media work, particularly within an international framework, me·dia te will engage a number of writers and theorists who will provide insights into the issues which are informing new media art and culture.

• Techniques of new media art exhibition and technical demonstrations
  One of the main obstacles associated with new media exhibition is a lack of understanding of the technical issues associated with presentation. Most new media work requires technology such as computers, video and data projectors and internet connections for exhibition. Technicians with experience working with installation and exhibition contexts will give curators an introduction to the techniques associated with installing this technology.

• Arts marketing and audience development
  Assisting audiences to understand and engage with technology-based art will be a key focus of the school. me·dia te will examine strategies for overcoming both the perceived and real obstacles associated with equipping new media exhibitions. Arts marketing strategies to promote new media art nationally and internationally will also be a key focus.
  

Guidelines for submitting applications are available from the ANAT offices or online here
(Applications due: 12 February, 1999).

ANAT's Report on Training for Curators in New Media,
conducted by Kevin Murray is available here

For further information, please contact:

Honor Harger or Amanda McDonald Crowley
Australian Network for Art & Technology
tel: 08 82319037/ 0419 829 313
email: anat@anat.org.au
fax: 08 82117323
URL: http://www.anat.org.au/

ANAT is assisted by the Australia Council, the Federal Government's arts funding and advisory body.