About

Foundation

The Museum was founded in the Australian winter of 2021 by David Freedom Rose. It had it's first public appearance in the context of a TAFE art course run at The Youthie in Nambucca Heads, NSW, Australia. However, the earliest evidence of MOMA's development can be found in David's art journals some 5 years previously.

The Museum that comes to You

Karen Runcell restores a damaged painting for the "358" Exhibition.

The Museum of Moving Art is at once a creative device, an idea and the physical expressions of these. MOMA is the creative output of a planet-wide non-commercial community art project called wikimoma.art.

In artspeak, MOMA can be understood to be an evolving composite artwork (a work of art that is made up of other works of art). Originally conceived as "street art with theatrical tendencies", it can be played as a game, or it can be approached more seriously - simply as a rather unique form of arts museum. However, playfulness is the key, for MOMA boldly experiments with the integration of gaming into community arts practice.

Put more simply, MOMA is made by participants in the wikimoma.art project - it takes many forms, and it can be in more than one place at any given time.

Inspiration, Conception & Aims

MOMA is an ambitious project inspired by flight simulation, buskers, street art and all of the great public art institutions in the world (but especially the Doncaster Museum & Gallery, Heide, and Buxton Contemporary).

Originally conceived as street art with theatrical tendencies, MOMA has matured into an expansive collaborative community arts project called wikimoma.art. It is interdisciplinary in nature and though somewhat complex, it's complexity is integrated by a sound conceptual framework (outlined in this wiki), along with a core fictional narrative that weaves the various elements into a cohesive whole.

Eight Aims underpin the structure and direction of the project:

1. to explore the intersections between reality, fantasy and the digital world
2. to create a straight-friendly Queer space in the online gaming world and at MOMA live spaces
3. to open up play in the flight simulator space to non-virtual-pilots
4. to represent Queer communities as ethnic groups by highlighting their Queer cultural expressions
5. to represent Queer individuals as fully functional and valued participants in the intersectional context of the other communities where they also live
6. to develop & exploit the cinematic and dramatic potential of open-world flight simulator software, particularly in regard to non-liner story telling.
7. to use online digital technologies to bring people together in real life communal spaces that are safe, playful & creative
8. to use online digital technologies to facilitate the making of physical artefacts and enact real life cultural performance

MOMA is what you make It

As a game, MOMA is played face to face at pop-up galleries in public and community spaces, online here at wikimoma.art and also in computers as creative projects and video games (single + multi-player). Participants can play as themselves or as characters they have created - they may play roles such as curators, museum visitors, artists, benefactors, art scholars, bureaucrats, trustees and whatever else takes their fancy.

This role-play can be quite low-key: sometimes random participants visiting the Museum may not even realize that they are part of a game. It can even get quite theatrical as Cosplay. Another way of playing at MOMA is to actually to have fun helping to make the games themselves!

Non-profit by Nature

The wikimoma.art project is non-commercial in so far as it is not driven by financial gain, but rather the love of community and the desire to validate community cultural expression as "art". As such there is no formal legal structure or entity. MOMA is a collective of individuals who love it and use it.

That is not to say that money is not involved. Community arts brings together professional arts workers to work with hobbyists and participant makers who do not identify themselves as artists. Professionals may be paid for their services or they may volunteer unpaid. Much work is done by volunteers who make contributions for the fun or love of it. Materials can be donated but things that need to be bought are paid for by donations. Grants can be applied for.

If you would like to materially support the work at MOMA please visit the Donate and Gift page.

Find out more about the importance of Community Arts

A Workbook by VicHealth & Castanet

"Art helps us to explore and interpret our stories and, in turn, share discoveries and learn more about how other people see the world. Participation in arts activities expand our networks, strengthen our social bonds and bring our communities closer together – the foundations for mental wellbeing."

VicHealth have partnered with Arts Victoria and Castanet in the development of a practical step-by-step guide to inspire more creative community activities now and into the future. Please click on the image to the right if you want to download the PDF guide and get a more in depth view of community arts practice from an Australian perspective.

For a quicker look, check out The Tate's comments on the history of community arts (click here), and then have a gander at this excellent video by The Guardian about Ghost Nets - it will give you a sense of the power of community arts at the level of feeling & ground up social change.