ANAT

What ANAT does

ANAT (Australian Network for Art and Technology) is a not-for-profit arts organization founded in 1988 and headquartered on Kaurna Country in Adelaide, South Australia. The organization operates as a national broker pairing Australian artists with science and technology partners, primarily through its flagship ANAT Synapse Residency program (running since 2004), the biennial ANAT SPECTRA festival, the Australian Antarctic Arts Fellowship (in partnership with the Australian Antarctic Division since 2017), and a growing portfolio of bespoke and themed programs including ANAT BESPOKE, ANAT Locale Mentorships, ANAT IDEATE, MICRO TALK, and the ANAT SALON. ANAT does not develop proprietary technology; instead, it facilitates access to research-grade tools (drones, motion capture, LiDAR, 3D printing, scanning electron microscopy, bioprinting, data sonification) and scientific expertise hosted by partner institutions including CSIRO and major Australian universities (UQ, QUT, UTS, Monash, Swinburne, RMIT, UniSA).

The organization is staffed by a small team (1-10 employees) led by CEO Melissa DeLaney, with program management, marketing/communications, and technical support functions. Its business model is grant-funded rather than transactional: core operational funding comes from the Australian Government through Creative Australia and the South Australian Government through the Department of Premier and Cabinet/CreateSA, supplemented by the Copyright Agency's Cultural Fund, the Visual Arts and Craft Strategy, project-based partnerships with universities and research institutions, donations, and a membership program. Programs are delivered via direct application processes and through partner host organizations across all Australian states and territories.

ANAT monetizes its mission indirectly by producing cultural outcomes (artworks, exhibitions, publications such as ANAT Digest and ANAT Q&A, a Google Arts & Culture collection, and Creative Research Journals) rather than charging fees for residency participation. Pricing is not publicly disclosed; residencies and fellowships are funded or subsidized for selected participants. The organization's alumni network spans hundreds of artists, scientists, and technologists since 1989, and it positions itself as Australia's only national organization dedicated to art-science-technology collaboration, with a stated global leadership claim in brokering these partnerships.

Name

ANAT

Legal name

Australian Network for Art & Technology

Website

https://anat.org.au

Company type

Private

Founded year

1988

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

ANAT is a not-for-profit arts organization that brokers collaborations between Australian artists and science/technology partners through residencies, biennial festivals, and fellowships, funded primarily by Australian federal and South Australian government grants.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Arts Residencies and Cross-Disciplinary Programs

NAICS

Business Associations (813910)

SIC

Miscellaneous Publishing (2741)

akta.pro primary industry

Arts Education & Community Arts Programs (BPAGAHAC)

akta.pro secondary industry

Public Art, Arts Councils & Grantmaking Programs (BPAGAHAH)

Keywords

• Art science residencies
• Artist research fellowships
• Creative technology programs
• Interdisciplinary arts festivals
• Art science collaboration

Headquarters

HQ city

Adelaide

HQ country

Australia

HQ region

Oceania

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Government Funding: ANAT is primarily funded by the Australian Government through Creative Australia (formerly Australia Council for the Arts) and the South Australian Government through Department of Premier and Cabinet/CreateSA. Also supported through the Visual Arts and Craft Strategy.
2. Donations and Membership: ANAT accepts donations and operates a membership-based model for artists, scientists and technologists interested in art, science and technology programs.
3. Project Partnerships: Additional support through project-based partnerships with universities, research organizations, and cultural institutions.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

ANAT brokers a portfolio of programs that pair Australian artists with science and technology partners, including the ANAT Synapse Residency, ANAT BESPOKE custom residencies, ANAT Locale Mentorships, the biennial ANAT SPECTRA festival, the Australian Antarctic Arts Fellowship, MICRO TALK presentations and the Google Arts & Culture Collection. Through these programs, artists gain access to research-grade technology and scientific expertise (drones, motion capture, LiDAR, 3D printing, bioprinting, electron microscopy, data sonification) while research partners receive creative perspectives and public engagement outputs. The organization is funded primarily by Australian Government grants through Creative Australia and the South Australian Government through CreateSA, with additional support from donations, memberships and project partnerships.

Product overview

ANAT (Australian Network for Art and Technology) is a not-for-profit arts organization that operates as a portfolio of interconnected programs rather than a unified technology product. The core offerings include: ANAT Synapse Residency (flagship residency pairing artists with research institutions), ANAT BESPOKE (custom tailored residencies), ANAT Locale Mentorships (place-based programs), MICRO TALK (short presentations), ANAT SPECTRA (biennial festival combining symposiums and exhibitions), Australian Antarctic Arts Fellowship (Antarctic expedition-based residencies), ANAT Google Arts & Culture Collection (digital archive), ANAT IDEATE (concept development residencies), and ANAT SALON (networking events). Together these programs broker opportunities for artists to collaborate with science and technology partners across Australia.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• ANAT Synapse Residency Flagship residency program that pairs Australian research organisations with artists for collaborative creative research and practice in science and technology. Open to artists via competitive application (e.g., ANAT Synapse 2026: Turbulent Trajectories).
• ANAT BESPOKE Custom residency program offering tailored opportunities for artists to work with specific science and technology partners on bespoke projects (e.g., ANAT BESPOKE :: AJUMMA Wellbeing Clinic).
• ANAT Locale Mentorships Place-based mentorship program connecting artists with local communities and environments for creative exploration.
• MICRO TALK Short-form presentation program featuring artists and researchers sharing ideas about art, science and technology collaborations.
• ANAT SPECTRA Biennial festival showcasing the best research and creative work produced through collaborations between Australian artists and scientists, featuring symposiums, exhibitions, workshops and public programs (e.g., SPECTRA 2025 :: Reciprocity, SPECTRA 2022, SPECTRA 2018).
• Australian Antarctic Arts Fellowship Fellowship program enabling artists and writers to spend time at Australian Antarctic Division research stations (Casey, Davis, Mawson) or aboard research vessels to create works inspired by Antarctica, using tools such as drones, motion capture, ambisonic recordings and LiDAR scanning.
• ANAT IDEATE Intensive residency program focused on ideation and conceptual development for art, science and technology collaborations.
• ANAT SALON Informal gathering format bringing together artists, scientists and technologists for networking and knowledge sharing (e.g., ANAT SALON Sydney 2019).
• ANAT Google Arts & Culture Collection Online collection showcasing artworks created through ANAT programs, available through Google's digital arts platform.
• ANAT Alumni Network Vast network comprising hundreds of artists, scientists and technologists who have participated in ANAT's art, science and technology programs since 1989.

Named customers6 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature1 record

Partnerships

Eleven partnerships are on record, tiered core and flagship.

• Science Gallery MelbournecoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2022Science Gallery Melbourne partnered with ANAT SPECTRA 2022, featuring the live art project 'MEEP' by Ana Tiquia and Luna Mrozik-Gawler.
• ExperimentaflagshipStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2018Experimenta curated the ANAT SPECTRA 2018 exhibition 'The Art and Consequence of Collaboration' featuring works by multiple ANAT alumni. The exhibition toured to UTS Gallery, Sydney in 2019.
• University of South Australia (UniSA)flagshipStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2018ANAT SPECTRA 2018 was held at UniSA's Cancer Research Institute. SASA Gallery hosted the exhibition component of the festival featuring art and science collaborations.
• Australian Antarctic Division (AAD)flagshipStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2017Since 2017, ANAT has partnered with the Australian Antarctic Division on its Arts Fellowship program. Artists and writers spend time at AAD research stations (Casey, Davis, Mawson) or aboard the research vessel to develop immersive art experiences. The partnership enables artists to access Antarctic environments and research for creative practice.
• CSIRO (Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2017ANAT's Synapse CSIRO Residencies place artists at CSIRO's Advanced Manufacturing hub in Melbourne. Artists collaborate with CSIRO scientists on research projects. The program began in 2017 with artists including Carolynne Bourne, Chris Henschke, James Geurts working with scientists on materials science, chemistry, and manufacturing research.
• University of Queensland (UQ)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2004UQ has hosted multiple ANAT Synapse residencies including the 2023 collaboration between artist Alicia Sometimes and Professor Tamara Davis exploring astrophysics through poetry and art.
• Queensland University of Technology (QUT)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2004QUT has hosted ANAT Synapse residencies including the 2023 collaboration between artist Ross Manning and Distinguished Professor Lidia Morawska (International Laboratory for Air Quality and Health) exploring indoor air quality through art.
• University of Technology Sydney (UTS)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2004UTS has hosted multiple ANAT Synapse residencies including the 2017 collaboration between Baden Pailthorpe and Professor Aaron Coutts in Sport and Exercise Science.
• Monash UniversitycoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2004Monash University's SensiLab (directed by Professor Jon McCormack) has hosted ANAT Synapse residencies including the 2018 collaboration with Natalie Alima exploring biological materials and digital fabrication.
• Swinburne University of TechnologycoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2004Swinburne University Centre for Transformative Media Technologies has partnered with ANAT, including supporting the 2019/20 Australian Antarctic Arts Fellowship and hosting residencies with researchers like Professor Christopher Fluke.
• RMIT UniversitycoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerANAT has a partnership with RMIT School of Art. CEO Melissa DeLaney serves as Adjunct Senior Industry Fellow at RMIT. RMIT supported the 2019/20 Australian Antarctic Arts Fellowship.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• Experimenta: Australia's national organization for media arts, curating touring exhibitions and supporting artists working with technology. Directly comparable as a fellow Australian art+technology nonprofit that collaborates with ANAT (e.g., curating SPECTRA 2018) and shares a similar mission and funding base.
• Science Gallery International: Global network that creates spaces at the intersection of art and science, with local nodes including Science Gallery Melbourne (an ANAT partner). Operates residencies, exhibitions, and public programs in the same art-science-for-young-audiences niche ANAT targets.
• Eyebeam: New York-based nonprofit supporting artists working with technology through residencies, fellowships, and public programs. A close functional peer to ANAT in mission and operating model, but with a larger U.S. footprint.
• V2_ Lab for the Unstable Media: Rotterdam-based interdisciplinary art+technology organization running residencies, commissions, and exhibitions. Comparable in mission and structure to ANAT — both broker artist-engineer-scientist collaborations and operate international programs at a similar scale.

Broad incumbents

• ZKM | Center for Art and Media Karlsruhe: German museum and production house dedicated to art and media technology, combining exhibitions, residencies, and research. Comparable as a longstanding institution at the art+technology intersection with a broader institutional footprint than ANAT.
• Ars Electronica: Austrian-based global leader in art, technology, and society, operating the Ars Electronica Festival, Futurelab, and Prix Ars Electronica. Comparable as a much larger incumbent brokering art–science–tech collaborations internationally; ANAT sits in the same category at a national scale.
• ACMI (Australian Centre for the Moving Image): Melbourne-based national museum of screen culture that runs residencies, exhibitions, and commissions at the intersection of moving image, art, and technology. A peer Australian institution working in adjacent art-technology space with much larger scale and infrastructure.

Others

• Creative Australia (Australia Council for the Arts): ANAT's principal federal funder and Australia's national arts funding and advisory body. Included as an ecosystem participant/funder rather than a direct peer — they shape the funding environment in which ANAT operates.

Emerging players

• Rhizome: Nonprofit supporting born-digital art and culture, affiliated with the New Museum. Comparable as a nonprofit enabling digital/technological art practice, though with a narrower focus on digital preservation and commissions.
• SensiLab (Monash University): Monash University research centre for creative practice intersecting with science and technology, hosting ANAT Synapse residencies. Comparable in mission but embedded in a university rather than operating as an independent national broker.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/pages/ANAT-Australian-Network-for-Art-and-Technology/107378322616367
• Instagraminstagram.com/anat_australia
• Xx.com/__anat

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles5 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

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Frequently asked questions about ANAT