Keri Elmsly on Reshaping Creative Institutions

Ceri Hand interviews Keri Elmsly, the Executive Director of Programming at ACMI (Australia's national museum of screen culture). Keri takes us on her remarkable journey from the underground London rave scene to staging groundbreaking immersive art experiences worldwide. She shares insights from working with pioneering artists like UVA, Mira Calix, and Memo Akten to reshape cultural institutions. Together, they explore Keri's approach to fostering ambitious collaborative artworks, from aligning infrastructure to handle complex projects to ensuring artists are properly compensated. Keri offers invaluable advice for creative professionals and shares her extensive knowledge and experience in this episode.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

• Keri was drawn in by the vibrant DIY creative ethos of the 90s underground rave scene in London, learning the power of transformative collective experiences.
• She observed that artists who kept up consistent creative practice no matter their environment produced the strongest, most refined work.
• As a producer, Keri sees her role as the "hero" for the artist - achieving the impossible together, not just facilitating.
• When commissioning artists in her experience, paying them to prototype ambitious ideas leads to the best outcomes.
• Keri believes cultural institutions like museums must become more invitational and move at the speed of contemporary culture to stay relevant.
• For museums, she feels improving organisational infrastructure is crucial so operations don't paralyse programming ambition and flexibility.
• Keri encourages creatives to remember they likely have more supporters and backers than they realise and to simply reach out and connect. 

BEST MOMENTS 

"I left home on my last day of school to go on the road."

"The people who had the most output were the most refined and dedicated. And when I look at where their careers are now, they’re still artists."

"I was like, well, I don’t know what Second Story is. I’ve never even heard of them. And then, my son was like, mom, I’m really tired of being poor."

"I think the encouragement is you have more backers than you think you do...just say hi to people that you haven’t chatted to for a while."

PODCAST HOST BIO

Meet Ceri Hand, the driving force behind countless creative success stories. A creative coach, entrepreneur, and dynamic speaker, she's committed to empowering creatives to realise their dreams and make a meaningful impact through her creative coaching, mentoring and training company. With three decades in the arts under her belt, Ceri has ridden the highs, the lows, and everything in between. Now, she's here to help you achieve your goals, your way.

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