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Jo Lloyd joins the Convent as 2022 artist-in-residence

We are delighted to announce that acclaimed independent dance artist, Jo Lloyd as our artist-in-residence for 2022 as part of our Studio Residency Program, which supports artists to develop works that are site-specific or site-responsive to Abbotsford Convent. 

Well known for her work with choreography as a social encounter, revealing behaviour over time or circumstances, Jo will use this residency to enable a focussed period of regular physical practice to research, develop and share new work. 

A graduate of the Victorian College of the Arts, Jo has presented her work in gallery spaces and theatres in Japan, Hong Kong, Dance Massive, the Melbourne International Festival, the National Gallery of Australia, the Biennale of Sydney, Liveworks, the National Gallery of Victoria, the Museum of Contemporary Art and Perth Institute of Contemporary Arts. 

Jo recently created the film and live work, Archive the Archive for the National Gallery of Australia’s exhibition KNOW MY NAME: Australian Women Artists 1900 to Now and was a 2020 Keir Choreographic Award commissioned artist. Her work OVERTURE presented at Arts House in 2018 and the Melbourne Festival 2019, received three Green Room Awards and a Helpmann Award nomination. 

Lloyd’s residency will involve experimenting with collaborators to generate multiple byproducts and sharing physical practices over the next six months. Working closely with her producer, Michaela Coventry (Sage Arts), she will build methodologies for a new work Ephemere with accompanying writing, encouraging interaction and dialogue that will be shown at the Convent.  

The Studio Residency Program offers a unique opportunity for artists to have time, space and support to undertake site-specific or responsive research, investigation and consideration. Residency artists invest in their own practice, and at the same time build their professional network and share their work with diverse audiences. 

Works created through the studio residency will be developed and shared throughout the Convent as a vibrant and temporary means of fostering delight and dialogue, as well as fostering engagement between our site, urban landscape, artistic community and audiences.