There was a time when I thought that Third Floor Gallery will cease to exist... We simply had not enough time, money and energy that could keep the organisation going.
We made it even semi official, the exhibition and a talk by Jacob Aue Sobol meant to be the last. But something happened during the time Jacob was in Cardiff. Claire Kern, clearly mobilised by this very successful period in the gallery's life, decided to fight for TFG. She said 'we will not stop without the fight'. And hell, she didn't stop.
Last weekend I felt that there is still a heart bit in TFG and that it is a strong one. Joni Karanka mentioned on Facebook that the gallery is established enough for him to 'retire' and give it 'away' to the new management team. I'm confident that under this new team TFG will continue to bring great photography to our beloved Welsh capital.
New website is also up and running. It is so much better than the old one and I felt really nostalgic flicking through past exhibitions and events we organised in the past.
For me personally the most important show was Mi Vida Loca by Joseph Rodriguez. It is simply because it was the first exhibition for which I was fully responsible. From proposing the show to Joni and Macej Dakowicz to contacting the photographer and curating the whole thing. East Side Stories the book that this exhibition was (in great part) based on, is the most influential photobook for my photographic practice. It opened my eyes on documentary photography and I remember as it was yesterday how astonished I was by the fact that one can tell such extraordinary stories simply by using a camera.
Anyway. Third Floor Gallery is alive! It makes me very happy.
I thought it was doomed as well, but Claire sure showed us! We had a great time on the Saturday relaunch and I got to take David Hurn out for lunch, which rates as a new special moment in my life.
ReplyDeleteI remember the Joseph Rodriguez exhibition very well. It was astonshing. It went so far beyond the usual gritty reportage and into the private - very human - lives of the gang members. I found the home life shots the most powerful of all. Here's hoping we get many more great exhibitions out of TFG. I also just want to thank you Bartosz for being so welcoming when I started visiting, despite my - at the time - knowing absolutely nowt about photography! To my mind that human element of a great community is one of the key ingredients of TFG's success.
My thoughts: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QuoKNZjr8_U
Awesome thought!! :P
DeletePete, I couldn't agree more!
ReplyDeleteAs for lunch with David. He is a special man and knowing and have ability to speak th him every now and then is a privilege!