Multicultural Arts Victoria (MAV) has opened submissions for its Ahead of the Curve commissions, for young and emerging artists of colour living around Melbourne to create new digital artworks that respond to social challenges, including COVID-19.

These commissions are aimed at young artists from diverse communities, and encourage works that show their strength and resilience in the face of adversity, explore health and wellbeing, and draw from their lived experiences.

KaiLash by Amicus Atman is featured in the above artwork. Supplied by Victorian Government

The new digital works created in Ahead of the Curve will be presented online as part of MAV’s Diasporas platform, a series of commissions designed to “disrupt systems of power in the arts, ignite artistic practices, and represent diverse creatives and their communities”.

These commissions aim to challenge perceptions of culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) communities as vulnerable and helpless, and explore how diversity and community can also be protective factors.

Applicants are asked to respond to one of three themes: exploring themes of strength and vulnerability, sharing narratives of adversity and resilience, or creating sanctuary through shared experience.

In addition to financial support,...