#23: Offline Journal Newsletter : July 2021
Offline Journal updates on contemporary photography in Wales
Hello again!
There’s lots happening - and cooking - in photography in Wales as individuals and organisations take baby steps back to normality.
This issue of the Offline Journal Newsletter offers up some news on what promises to be an exciting Autumn 2021 in Wales (all things Covid permitting…). Adding to the excitement (at least for me) is the next issue of the printed Offline Journal coinciding with a photography-packed October. If you haven’t renewed your Subscription for the next two issues you can do so here.
Photography festivities aplenty
Unsurprisingly, disruption caused by Covid-19 has forced photography institutions large and small to adapt offerings for their audiences, with a significant increase in online activity.
Similarly, photography festivals these past eighteen months have dramatically altered their formats, programmes and dates. The EYE International Photography Festival, having postponed its October 2020 event due to Covid restrictions, will now take place in the same month as two other biennial festivals hosted in Wales. October 2021 promises to be a bumper month for photography in Wales!
Wales, October 2021
We could be forgiven for believing planets aligned and a cosmic force decreed Wales should have a ‘mega-photo-fest’ of its own in 2021 as a post-lockdown reward. Maybe - but more likely it was down to Covid-19.
One benefit of the biennial festival format is allowing organisers to plan two years hence and thus avoid clashing with other events to maximise press and promotion opportunities. Here in Wales, take three separate photography festivals, add an unhealthy dose of Covid-19 and voilá…
1. Diffusion Festival
1 - 31 October 2021, Various locations
Now its fifth event since starting in 2013, Ffotogallery’s Diffusion Festival has, up until this year, been scheduled in early Spring. At time of writing, no confirmation of dates, festival theme or programme have been announced but Offline understands it will run throughout October 2021 in various venues in and around Cardiff and South Wales.
More information should appear on Ffotogallery’s website soon.
ffotogallery.org
2. The Northern EYE Festival
9 - 10 October 2021 (Sat - Sun), Oriel Colwyn
Sat 9 - Sun 10 October are the original scheduled dates for this years The Northern EYE Festival and festival Director Paul Sampson is sticking to those and offering an enticing speaker lineup for those making the pilgrimage to Colwyn on the North Wales coast: Charlie Phillips, Emma Case, Brian Griffin (him again), Alys Tomlinson, Jack Lowe, Suzie Larke and Craig Easton.
northerneyefestival.co.uk
3. The EYE Festival
16 - 17 October 2021 (Sat - Sun), Aberystwyth Arts Centre
Postponed from October 2020, Wales’ first biennial photography event, The EYE International Photography Festival, will now take place in Aberystwyth Arts Centre on the weekend of Saturday 16 - Sunday 17 October 2021 according to EYE Director Glenn Edwards. At time of writing, the speaker lineup remains unchanged: Lalage Snow, Dafydd Jones, Nicola Muirhead, Laura El-Tantawy, Vanley Burke and Mary Turner.
Festival exhibitions have yet to be confirmed.
theeyefestival.com
and
Museum Cardiff with be reasserting its own place in exhibiting international photography in Wales with…
4. Museum Wales / Swaps II
23 October 2021 - 27 March 2022, National Museum Cardiff
A treat for anyone who didn’t see the original Magnum Photos | David Hurn's Swaps exhibition curated by Martin Parr in Somerset House during May 2017 as part of Photo London or the follow-up at The Martin Parr Foundation from June - September 2018. This second SWAPS exhibition in Museum Cardiff’s permanent photography gallery will provide visitors with some insight on the taste of David Hurn and the fellow Magnum photographers with whom he swapped prints. The design of the exhibition is very different to Museum Cardiff’s SWAPS exhibition from Autumn 2017 and clearly links the Hurn photograph swapped with those he chose in return - including works by Henri Cartier-Bresson, Alec Soth, Elliott Erwitt and Newsha Tavakolian amongst others.
You can see the format of the exhibition in a (rough and ready) video I shot for Ffoton at the opening of the SWAPS exhibition in Bristol.
The exhibition at Museum Cardiff is scheduled to run 23 October 2021 - 27 March 2022.
museum.wales
Let’s hope smaller galleries around Wales join in the buzz of October 2021 with their own photography exhibitions and events. I’m aware of a couple already underway with planning. All deserve our support to ensure a rich and diverse range of photography shows for different audiences to encourage more discussion and critique - and photography - across all of Wales.
Next issue of Offline Journal, October ‘21
The next two issues of Offline Journal are now underway and will be published October 2021 and April 2022 respectively. Busy times!
Interviews and articles are underway but I’d be interested to hear your suggestions and ideas for topics in future issues.
Please feel free to leave comments in an email via offline.wales@gmail.com
I’m excited about new collaborations and projects now underway.
Subscribers to Offline Journal will see the results of these in upcoming supplements, at events and via new online materials being prepared on www.offline.wales
If you have purchased individual copies or previously Subscribed to Offline Journal, I thank you sincerely. If you would like to secure a copy of the next two issues of the limited print run, (issue #006 sold out in a matter of weeks!) and receive the new-look Subscriber Newsletter monthly to your email inbox, you can now Subscribe for the next two issues.
Alternatively, to secure a copy of the next two issues and also receive the highly-praised printed supplements, a new twice-monthly Newsletter and access to new online materials, you can opt for the Subscriber+ subscription option.
Subscriptions are vital in the production of future issues - thanks again for your support!
Brian