December Newsletter

Welcome to the final newsletter of 2022!

As the year draws to a close, we would like to take this opportunity to thank the staff, artists, volunteers, partners and supporters for helping us deliver another successful programme of exhibitions, events and projects in 2022.

With seasonal best wishes from the Ffotogallery Team.

Holiday Closures:

Our offices will be closed for the holiday period from Friday 23 December until Monday 2 January (inclusive). We look forward to welcoming you back in the New Year!

A MESSAGE FROM OUR CURATOR

We are sad to announce that Cynthia will be leaving her role as Curator at Ffotogallery, but we can’t wait to see what the future holds for her and we wish her all the best.

“It’s been a fantastic journey working at Ffotogallery. I have grown so much from all the exciting challenges and wouldn’t have it any other way or trade it for the world either. There’s no other team than the remarkable team that is at Ffotogallery and I will miss you all so much, Siân, Alex, Liz, Cath and Chloe.

I still have a lot to learn and so much to see and consume and like every great journey…I have decided to focus on my own practice and pursue a PhD and which is why I am leaving my role as the Curator at Ffotogallery.

I always believe actions speak louder than words and I feel fortunate and blessed to have met and worked with colleagues, artists, curators and industry professionals who work in such forward-thinking and innovative ways.

To you all, thank you for making this shy Kenyan creative feel welcomed and appreciated. It’s not goodbye but See you later (tuonane baadaye in Swahili).

Have a lovely Christmas holiday and New Year’s.”

- Cynthia MaiWa Sitei.

FFOCWS EXTENDED INTO 2023

We're excited to extend Ffocws into January 2023! The exhibition will close on 17th December, and re-open for a limited 2-week period on 4th January.

If you haven’t been able to get over to the gallery yet, or want to take in the exhibition again, here's your chance!

We would like to say a massive thank you to The Ashley Family Foundation for their generous funding to support a professional development programme for the twelve artists featured in Ffocws. We appreciate your commitment to supporting the arts and projects that bring people together, to make their community a better, more joyful place.

With your help, we will provide a comprehensive and sophisticated 6-month programme for all the artists in the coming new year. Through professional development workshops, mentoring sessions, and peer-to-peer sessions, they will be building strong working relationships with other professionals in the visual arts industry, while learning and growing within their practices. The workshops will involve discussions around writing proper funding applications to pitching ideas and working with galleries, curators, and other organisations to get their work seen and published.

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WE ARE HERE, BECAUSE YOU WERE THERE

In January 2023, Ffotogallery is proud to present a new exhibition We Are Here, Because You Were There, a collaborative project by photographer Andy Barnham and researcher Dr Sara de Jong. The work uses portraiture and quotes to document the experiences of Afghan interpreters employed by the British Army who recently resettled to the UK.

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COMMUNITIES OF CHOICE

The Communities of Choice exhibition, now open at Kochi-Muziris Biennale, presents lens-based projects by artists from India and Wales. Who am I? Where do I belong? Do I belong to a community? Do I belong to many? These are a few underlying questions we pose through the exhibition. Selected via an open-call, the featured projects are a constellation of layered explorations of the notion of community. The exhibition is part of the invitations program of the Kochi Muziris Biennale 2022 and will remain open until 10 April 2023.

Explore the project further via the website below.

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THE FEMALE LINE WITH ADEOLA DEWIS

On Friday 13th January 2023 Ffotogallery will be hosting an evening event for The Female Line with guest speaker Adeola Dewis.

Specifically for women of colour, this event will provide and create a safe space for women to develop connections and creative responses to shared concerns, issues and ideas, with an invited speaker to inspire the conversations.

Adeola is an artist and researcher. Originally from Trinidad and Tobago, she has keen interests in ritual, folk and indigenous cultural performances.

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PICK-ME-UP PHOTO JOURNAL CHALLENGE

Join us throughout January for the Pick-Me-Up Photo Journal Challenge! At Ffotogallery we love the highs of the festive holidays, but we also know that January can be a bit of a comedown after all those celebrations, during a cold, dark month. So we thought that having a fun project to focus on might help to lift all of our spirits.

Create a photographic journal with daily prompts designed to help with our well being and to inspire us to look for the positives all around us. Every day we’ll post a new word as a cue to create a photograph.

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You might also like:

Women in Photography Project Prize

The V&A Parasol Foundation Prize for Women in Photography is an exciting new annual initiative dedicated to identifying, supporting, and championing innovative women artists working in the field of contemporary photography. Deadline for submissions: 22 January 2023

Find out more

Belfast Photo Festival: Open Submission 2023

Belfast Photo Festival is offering artists/photographers the opportunity to exhibit their work in the main Festival gallery alongside some of the biggest names in the field of photography. Deadline for submissions: 3 February 2023

Find out more

Wednesday Adult Workshops

The Wednesday Adult Workshop group aims to improve older people’s access to the arts. The group aims to promote independence, social confidence and creative skills through a supportive environment for old and new members. Every Wednesday, 1-3pm.

Find out more

BBC 100 in Wales

Head over to National Museum Cardiff to explore 100 years of the history of the BBC in Wales. From its birth in the 1920s into a new digital age, discover how Wales has, and will continue, to contribute to the making of the BBC.

Find out more