Ffotogallery is the national development agency for photography in

Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...

. It was established in 1978 and since June 2019 has been based in

Cathays Cathays ( ; standardised ; sometimes , 'the constant meadow') is a district and community in the centre of Cardiff, capital of Wales. It is an old suburb of Cardiff established in 1875. It is densely populated and contains many Victorian ter ...

, Cardiff. It also commissions touring exhibitions nationally and internationally. Its current director is David Drake. From 2003 to 2019 Ffotogallery used

Turner House Gallery Turner House Gallery is an art gallery and multi-purpose cultural venue in Penarth, near Cardiff, Wales. Details The gallery was built in 1887/8, designed by architect Edwin Seward in a Queen Anne style architecture, Queen Anne style for the ric ...

Penarth Penarth ( , ) is a town and Community (Wales), community in the Vale of Glamorgan, Wales, approximately south of Cardiff city centre on the west shore of the Severn Estuary at the southern end of Cardiff Bay. Penarth is a Seaside resort#Brit ...

as its gallery.

Background

Ffotogallery is a national organisation and has an exhibition programme featuring artists from Wales and the rest of the world. It features touring exhibitions, collaborations with other organisations and galleries, print and online publishing and an education and outreach programme. Ffotogallery also works with film and video, digital media and installation. In 2003 it acquired

, near Cardiff, from the

National Museum of Wales National may refer to: Common uses * Nation or country ** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen Places in the United States * National, Maryland, c ...

and used it for photography-based exhibitions. Its administration and education programme was based in

Chapter Arts Centre Chapter Arts Centre (often just referred to as Chapter) is an arts centre in Canton, Cardiff, Canton, Cardiff, Wales, opened in 1971. Description Chapter hosts films, Play (theatre), plays, performance art and live music, and includes a free ar ...

in Cardiff. In 2009 David Drake took over as director, from Chris Coppock who had been director for 19 years. In 2016 Penarth town council suggested they planned to convert Turner House into a food outlet. In June 2019 Ffotogallery moved to The Old Sunday School on Fanny Street,

, Cardiff. Ffotogallery receives regular funding from the

Arts Council of Wales The Arts Council of Wales (ACW; ) is a Welsh Government-sponsored body, responsible for funding and developing the arts in Wales. Established within the Arts Council of Great Britain in 1946, as the Welsh Arts Council (), its English name w ...

, for example receiving £198,688 in 2015/16 and a similar amount in 2016/2017.

Projects

Ffotogallery organises Diffusion: Cardiff International Festival of Photography. The biannual festival was held in 2013, focusing on Europe, in 2015 when the title was "Looking for America" and in 2017 when under the theme 'Revolution.' The fourth instalment took place in April 2019 with the theme Sound + Vision, exploring the relationship between sound, photography and lens-based media. In 2023 Ffotogallery ran a scheme with MADE Cardiff, to support graduate photographers, with a Ffotogallery exhibition to be held in November 2023.

Commissions

Major Ffotogallery commissions made in and about Wales over the last three decades include The Valleys Project, A470 and Barrage. These have featured alongside important new work made in single artist projects such as

Keith Arnatt Keith Arnatt (1930–2008) was a British conceptual artist. As well as conceptual art his work is sometimes discussed in relation to land art, minimalism, and photography. He lived and worked in London, Liverpool, Yorkshire and Monmouthshire. Lif ...

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, Peter Finnemore,

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, John Davies,

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and

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Exhibitions

Some of the exhibitions Ffotogallery has hosted at Turner House include: * January–February 2004: ''Urban Dreams,'' John Davies * January–February 2008: ''Niagara,''

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* August–October 2009: ''Cockroach Diary and Other Stories,'' Anna Fox * March–April 2010: ''Lost for Words,'' Peter Fraser * June–August 2010: ''Villes/Cities,''

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* November–December 2011: ''Believing is Seeing'', photographs by seven Korean artists * January–February 2012: ''Works ion Memory,''

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* July–September 2013: ''Early Photographic Works,''

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* August 2013: ''Quiet Heroes'',

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* November 2013–January 2014: ''Stasis,''

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* March–May 2014: ''"Day Dreaming About The Good Times?",''

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* February–March 2014 ''We make the path by walking'', Paul Gaffney; and ''Clear of People'', Michal Iwanowski. * July–August 2014 ''The Black Hole & Hiraeth''. Janire Nájera and Gareth Phillips. * March–April 2017: ''Kanu's Gandhi'' - rare photographs of

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* June 2017: ''A Million Mutinies Later,'' Various * July–August 2017: ''The Queen, The Chairman and I'' * October–December 2017: ''Land/Sea,'' Mike Perry * January 2018: ''Still Lives: Consumed,'' Dawn Woolley At other venues: * September–October 2018: ''Land / Sea'', Mike Perry (co-curated with Plymouth Arts Centre) - at

Aberystwyth Arts Centre Aberystwyth Arts Centre ( Welsh: ''Canolfan y Celfyddydau Aberystwyth'') is an arts centre in Wales, located on Aberystwyth University's Penglais campus. One of the largest in Wales, it comprises a theatre (312 seats), concert hall (1,250 seats ...

References

External links

*
Diffusion: Cardiff International Festival of Photography
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ffotogallery 1978 establishments in Wales Arts in Cardiff British photography organisations Photography in Wales Arts organizations established in 1978