March Newsletter
Andy Barham and Dr Sara De Jong's exhibition, We Are Here, Because You Were There has officially come to an end here at Ffotogallery, and we would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone who visited. Don’t forget, you can still view the exhibition online in this virtual tour.
You can also still submit feedback - if you visited the gallery to see this exhibition, please complete this anonymous online survey to help us gather information and opinions which will inform our future exhibitions and events.
The gallery is now closed while we are between exhibitions, but keep reading to find out more about what’s coming up at Ffotogallery:
OPPORTUNITY - INTERVENTIONS: GALLERY RESET
Interventions: Gallery RESET is a new initiative launching in 2023 comprising a series of gallery takeovers over the next two years. Made possible by the Reimagine grant from ArtFund, the project seeks to open up the gallery space to reinterpretation by both the artist and the audience.
We hope that these interventions and takeovers will provide new opportunities for Wales-based artists whose practice contests and disrupts traditional ways of working, asks challenging and provocative questions, and focuses on themes such as identity, migration, gender, social inequality and the environment.
For the first takeover we are thrilled to be working in partnership with Disability Arts Cymru, the lead organisation for disability arts in Wales. Via an open call, one artist working in photography or lens-based media who identifies as Deaf, disabled and/or neurodivergent will be selected for the project.
The artist will be invited to reimagine the notion of working within a contemporary gallery context, through experimentation with installation, interaction and interpretation and challenging traditional approaches.
Applications are open from Saturday 1 April - Friday 19 May 2023
PHOTO BOOK FAIR
Join us on Saturday 22 April, from 12-5pm for our next Photo Book Fair!
The day will include talks from Paul Cabuts, David Barnes, Alejandro Acīn and Sebastian Bruno, a bookbinding technique workshop with Bill Chambers and a brilliant variety of stall holders, including Offline Journal, Al Naaem, Vaine, Spacecraft Magazine, Yellow Back Books, 2Tenbooks, and more.
A full schedule of the day will be announced shortly. Spaces for the workshop with Bill Chambers are limited and are on a first come first serve basis.
FAADI / Y STAFELL FYW / THE LIVING ROOM
We are excited to announce that the next exhibition at Ffotogallery is Faadi / Y Stafell Fyw / The Living Room, an intergenerational photography and fashion project sharing intimate family settings within Somali Welsh homes. With an emphasis on celebration, the project includes images of young local models in bridal wear, community members modelling cultural clothing such as Hidyaah Dhaqan and Diraq, brotherhood and soft masculinity and the traditional dance of Ciyaar Somali.
The project is a collaboration between Asma Elmi, founder and creative director of Al Naeem, and Young Queens. Al Naeem is a magazine which centres on Black and Muslim fashion, photography and art. Young Queens is an arts group for young Welsh Somali women from Cardiff, founded by Hayaat Women’s Trust, with funding support from Heritage Lottery.
The exhibition will be running from 28th of April – the 11th of May, with more event details to follow.
Image: Asma Elmi, Young Queens, Hayaat Women's Trust, Al Naeem Magazine, funded by Heritage Lottery Foundation.
QUEERDOS BIG ART BONANZA FOR RAINBOW FAMILIES
On Saturday 29 April we will be joined by Queerdos for a joyful day of creative activities! We will have badge-making, zine workshops, a giant collaborative art piece for anyone and everyone to contribute to and more. We want to bring LGBTQ+ parents with their children and queer youth together to connect and create to celebrate our wonderfully vibrant rainbow community. There will also be a special guest for storytime with the kids.
What does it mean to be a rainbow family? We want to explore this and give a space for queer families and youth to express themselves in whatever way they choose with paint, glue, glitter and a whole lotta love.
29th of April / 12 - 4pm
Free entry / Ages 0-16
TEA AND CAKE TUESDAY
As we are going to be closed for a few weeks, the next Tea and Cake Tuesday will be taking place on the 2 May 2023. We will be open between 11 am - 1 pm with staff on hand to greet you and tell you more about the exhibitions and events taking place at Ffotogallery. We look forward to seeing you and chatting over a cuppa and some cake.
You might also like:
On Loss and Damage
Taking its title from the Julie’s Bicycle seminar of the same name, On Loss and Damage brings together seven artists, Mohamed Hassan, Rebecca Wyn Kelly, Alfred Sisley, Terry Setch, Durre Shahwar & Kandace Siobhan Walker and Mari Wirth whose work puts the urgency of the climate crisis, what can be restored, and what can be lost into context through installation, video, photography and painting, curated by Bob Gelsthorpe.
Photomonitor - call for submissions
The editors at Photomonitor are now inviting submissions of interest for new writing on photography. They are welcoming emailed ideas for features, including interviews, exhibition and book reviews, essays and experimental texts on photography, to the new editorial group.
Amgueddfa Cymru Producer - Freelance roles at the museum!
Amgueddfa Cymru Producers (ACPs) collaborate to develop activities, events, youth-led large-scale projects and more at the museum and deepen their knowledge about art, culture and creativity in the process. ACPs are regularly given opportunities to apply to work on paid projects with museum staff and wider networks. To join, you must be within the age bracket of 16 - 30 and either have Welsh heritage or live in Wales.
Conversations at the Chapel – Jackie Kay
Jackie Kay is a writer who works across all genres. Her novel Trumpet is extraordinary. She also writes brilliant short stories. Jackie is the biographer of the Queen of the Blues, Bessie Smith. Red Dust Road is the autobiographical search for her biological parents. And Bantam is the latest of many poetry collections. Hear her talk about all of this and more, at The Chapel in Abergavenny on the 19th of April at 19.30pm.
Yr Hen Iaith - podcast series
The series launched for the first time in March 2023 on AM (AM is a website and app showcasing the arts in Wales). The podcast, which contains 9 episodes, describes itself as an entertaining journey through the history of Welsh literature with Jerry Hunter, a boy from the Midwest of America, teaching Richard Wyn Jones, a boy from the middle of Anglesey, about the treasures of his own language. The series is produced by Richard Martin.
Pretence Magazine: ‘Quixotic’ Open Call
Pretence Magazine are taking submissions for their Spring 23 issue open call section. The theme this time around is ‘quixotic’ - “Romantic, extravagant, starry-eyed, visionary, utopian, non-viable, impossible? What does Quixotic mean to you and how can your work represent it? We know it’s a challenge, that’s the point. Push yourself to produce something that will captivate.”
It’s free to submit up to 3 images and the deadline is 28 April.
You might also like
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EventQueerdos Big Art Bonanza for Rainbow Families
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ExhibitionFaadi / Y Stafell Fyw / The Living Room