Multidisciplinary artist and musician Serwah Attafuah named third and final recipient of the Mordant Family Moving Image Commission for Young Australian Artists

Multidisciplinary artist and musician Serwah Attafuah named third and final recipient of the Mordant Family Moving Image Commission for Young Australian Artists

ACMI is proud to announce Western Sydney based artist Serwah Attafuah as the latest recipient of the Mordant Family Moving Image Commission for Young Australian Artists. The Commission supports artists under 35 to create contemporary moving image works that reference social, cultural, or political issues with energy and originality.

Now in its third and final year, this round of the commission is proudly supported by Professor Cav. Simon Mordant AO and Catriona Mordant AM, ACMI and John Allsopp from Web Directions.

Known for creating surreal cyber dreamscapes and Afrofuturistic artworks with contemporary themes, Attafuah will receive $50,000 to make a new screen-based work titled The Darkness Between the Stars. ACMI will also provide curatorial and exhibition production support for the project, which will premiere at the museum in early 2025 and enter the ACMI Collection.

Attafuah’s multi-disciplinary practice includes digital painting, 3D animation, motion capture, digital animations, and virtual reality. Her proposed commission piece will be composed of several digital motion artworks presented in custom-made frames and a wider experiential form, providing an Afrofuturistic commentary on the intersection of climate change, e-waste, the legacies of the slave trade, land rights, and the indomitable spirit of the indigenous peoples of West Africa.

ACMI Director & CEO Seb Chan said: “Attafuah’s distinctive practice blends mythology and technology, the surreal and the hyperreal, and is both complex and instantly accessible. She impressed the judging panel with her ambitious vision for a very contemporary and well-considered experiential work deeply rooted in her personal and community histories and her Ghanian ancestry. We’re excited to bring the project to life with the support of Catriona Mordant AM, Professor Cav. Simon Mordant AO and John Allsopp of Web Directions.”

Simon Mordant AO said: “Catriona and I are proud to champion the work of young Australian artists. We congratulate Serwah Attafuah and look forward to seeing this critical and complex work on display at ACMI.”

Commission recipient Serwah Attafuah said: “I'm thrilled and incredibly grateful to be selected for the Mordant Family Moving Image Commission for Young Australian artists. This achievement amplifies the voices of those who have been historically silenced, and it's a beacon of hope that even in the shadow of ecological devastation and colonial legacies, there is a path forward to a utopia forged by the unyielding strength of our ancestors and the indomitable will of our people. I am excited to share my vision of Afrofuturistic bravery and for the opportunity to tell this story that transcends time and space.”

The two previous recipients of the Mordant Family Moving Image Commission for Young Australian artists are Stanislava Pinchuk (2019) and Jason Phu, who premiered his work Analects of Kung Phu – Book 1, The 69 Dialogues between the Lamp and the Shadow at ACMI in 2021.

NOTES TO EDITORS:

• Images and video files are available to download here.
• For further media enquiries please contact Stephanie.payne@acmi.net.au.

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ABOUT SERWAH ATTAFUAH
Serwah Attafuah (b. 1998) is a multidisciplinary artist and musician based on Dharug land/Western Sydney, Australia. She creates surreal cyber dreamscapes and heavenly wastelands, populated by Afrofuturistic abstractions of self with strong ancestral and contemporary themes. Serwah has collaborated and been commissioned by clients including Mercedes Benz, Nike, GQ, Microsoft, Adobe, Paris Hilton and Valentino. Notable achievements include her participation in Sotheby's Natively Digital: A Curated NFT Sale, Apotheosis: a live motion capture experience with Soft Centre at The Sydney Opera House, and a TEDx talk in Sydney on The Metaverse and Afrofuturism.