Absolut Partners with The h. Club Foundation to support their Emerging Creatives Programme
Absolut is proud to partner with the London’s hub for the creative industries The Hospital Club and the h.Club Foundation an independent charitable entity established to use the Club’s membership, staff and resources to invest back into both the creative industries and the local community. As part of the Foundation’s ‘Emerging Creatives Programme’, Absolut will support and nurture emerging talent from the art and design world.
The first spirit brand to forge genuinely close ties with the creative community, Absolut has been active in the art world since 1986, when it invited Andy Warhol to create the first in a series of iconic advertisements inspired by the Absolut bottle. Since then, Absolut has collaborated with more than 1000 artists on over 800 commissioned projects.
Absolut continue to grow their arts legacy by supporting and collaborating with the h.Club Foundation, working with up and coming designers Cindy Strobach and Mike Vanis who together run a creative partnership called Unit Lab. As part of the partnership, Mike and Cindy will be briefed to create a brand new piece of work based on the Absolut Nights programme using art, music and technology to transform the night.
“Absolut has a long history of celebrating original thinking and artistic collaboration, always experimenting with new techniques and pushing boundaries to develop innovative and artistic products. Mike and Cindy’s work encapsulates this and we’re excited to see how they will respond to our brief and proud to support them on this journey,” says Rick Bennett Baggs, Senior Brand Manager, Absolut.
Together, the h.Club Foundation and Absolut will offer:
- Membership to the Club for 1 year
- A grant of up to £2,000 to develop the Absolut Nights brief
- A comprehensive programme of development, coaching and mentoring
- Access to the Club’s facilities
- Opportunities to network with the Club’s diverse community of creative professionals and to showcase work via the Club’s on-line and off-line platforms
As part of the Emerging Creatives Programme, the h. Club Foundation will also support 3 additional creatives from the fields of Fashion, Theatre & Performance, Film & Video and Music. The Hospital Club provides its resources and space to the h.Club Foundation free of charge, ensuring that every penny donated goes directly to supporting the Foundation’s work.
“The ethos of the Club has always been clear: to support the creative industries and to nurture emerging talent. We are proud that the h.Club Foundation will be playing a part in enabling the next generation of creative innovators to make their mark in their respective fields, leading the way with vision, passion and inspiration,” says Sue Walter, CEO of the Hospital Club
About The Hospital Club
THE HOSPITAL CLUB is a unique private members club in the heart of Covent Garden, London, for members of the creative industries. It was founded by Dave Stewart, one half of the Eurhythmics, and Paul Allen, co-founder of Microsoft. The seven storey building has an award-winning TV and Music Studio, a Gallery, Restaurant and Bars, a Screening Room, Hotel Bedrooms, and the Oak Room, a live performance space.
Joanne Carter
Joanne Carter is a British photography journalist, editor, curator, and the founder of *TheAppWhisperer.com*, one of the world’s leading platforms dedicated to mobile photography and art. Since its launch in 2009, TheAppWhisperer has become an international hub for artists of all levels to discover, learn, exhibit, and engage with contemporary photographic practice.Built on principles of inclusivity, accessibility, and artistic excellence, Joanne has spent almost two decades championing mobile photography as a serious artistic medium. Through interviews, critical essays, exhibitions, competitions, and education, she has helped shape and document the evolution of mobile art on a global scale.Her work has taken her internationally, lecturing on photography and mobile art at institutions and events including the Museum of Art in Seoul, South Korea, alongside appearances in the UK and Europe. She has served as a juror for international photography and mobile art awards across Portugal, Canada, the United States, South Korea, Italy, and the UK.Joanne is also the founder of *TheAppWhispererPrintSales.com*, one of the first online galleries dedicated exclusively to collectible mobile art, connecting artists with collectors across Europe, the United States, and Asia.Before founding TheAppWhisperer, Joanne worked extensively in print journalism and photographic publishing, including roles at a paparazzi photo agency and as deputy editor of a leading photography magazine. Her freelance journalism, criticism, and commentary have been published widely in both the UK and the US, with bylines in *The Times*, *The Sunday Times*, *The Guardian*, *Popular Photography*, *NikonPro*, *DPReview*, *Which?*, *Vogue Italia*, *LensCulture*, the *BBC*, and more recently, the *Financial Times*, where her published letters on photography continue to contribute to wider conversations around the medium.Alongside her editorial and curatorial work, Joanne’s own photographic practice has been exhibited internationally across the UK, Europe, South Korea, and the United States. Her work increasingly explores themes of grief, loss, death, memory, and the body.Her current research interests centre on grief, death, and poverty, with forthcoming postgraduate study leading towards doctoral research in these areas.Joanne is currently developing new long-form writing and photographic projects and is available for commissions, editorial projects, speaking engagements, and collaborations.Contact: joannetheappwhisperer@gmail.com)
