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© 2021 MOCT Foundation
ACME Art Residency
Fire Station, London
November - February 20/21


Supporting artists since 1972, Acme is a charity based in London which provides affordable studios, work/live space, and a programme of residencies and awards. Acme is the single largest provider of affordable artist studios in England, and this year it will support over 800 individual artists across 16 buildings in Greater London.

      Acme, Fire Station Studio
      We are proud to announce the partnership with Acme and the launch of our first Art Residency for one artist from Russia.

      For the past year, we have been working in collaboration with Acme and Winzavod to provide a three-month long residency based in east London at Acme's work/live artist residency building, the Fire Station.
      The residency is offered to Russian artists with exceptional promise,
      who would benefit from international experience and connections, and who do not have the means to access similar opportunities without the support of MOCT Arts Foundation or Acme.

      With the help from Winzavod - Centre for Contemporary Art, Russia - we are pleased to announce Liza Shtormit as the first artist selected for this residency, for her series of immersive offerings and performances titled 'Essence of the City.' Humour, text, and interactivity are central to Shtormit's practice, which includes a variety of mediums such as painting, objects, and animation.

      Liza will be undertaking her residency at the Fire Station November -February 2020, alongside Australia Council residency artist and Acme Fire Station 5 year work/live artists, encouraging an environment of peer support, collaboration and critical engagement.

      Selected artist will also benefit from an individually tailored residency programme, participating in critical dialogue through group events, and individual studio visits with leading art professionals.

      The Applicant was asked to demonstrate both a financial and practical need, and to present a case for the transformational impact the residency would have on their career. Application and shortlisting is undertaken by Winzavod Centre for Contemporary Art, Russia. Interview and final selection was undertaken by Acme. The selection panel for the 2020 residency included Paul Bayley (Head of Residencies and Awards) and Charlie Coffey (Residencies and Awards Programme Manager).

      Due to the COVID lockdown restrictions, the residency is prolonged by extra three weeks to allow Liza an opportunity to catch with the research work and bring her final piece to completion.

      "My part-time job as a creative thinking teacher also helps me to soak in the freshness of the kids' view on the world. This leads me to not take anything too seriously, to see the world's funny side, and being open to explore their reality as much as I can. In my art I often want to make viewers interact with an artwork and oppose the classic museum attitude of «don't touch, don't come close». I give the viewer a chance to touch, to smell, to manipulate an artwork, and so on."
      Liza Shtormit

      We are looking forward to seeing the outcome of this program and the impact it had on Liza's creative practice. The results will be published on our site together with Q&A and some 'behind the scene' stories.

      Acme Artist Support Programme

      Aiming to intervene at pivotal moments in artists' careers, Acme's programme of artist support is designed to have a transformational impact. Working with a range of international and UK-based partners and donors, the programme supports professional development for artists at all stages of their careers through residencies, bursaries, mentoring and exhibition opportunities. Over 700 artists have benefitted from the programme since its foundation in 1987.
      Acme.org.uk

      Lisa Shtormit is an artist, curator and researcher, a teacher and Founder of the Audio Art School Shtormit, and a lecturer and integrator of interdisciplinary education since 2011. Over the last four years Lisa has worked with olfactory art, over the last two years in invisible art, and produced interactive art objects since 2015.