Belfast Harbour Partners with Belfast Photo Festival for Outdoor Gallery Exhibition
Belfast Harbour is partnering with Belfast Photo Festival to create a free outdoor gallery on Belfast’s waterfront, which over a period of six months will showcase world class photographic artists at the new City Quays Gallery.
In partnership with Arts & Business NI, Belfast Harbour is supporting Belfast Photo Festival in staging the new exhibition, which is now open and will run until September in the City Quays area of Belfast’s iconic waterfront.
The exhibition is one of a number of community initiatives scheduled during 2022, to mark Belfast Harbour’s celebrations of the 175th Anniversary of Belfast Harbour Commissioners.
With a goal of increasing accessibility to the visual arts, the partnership between Belfast Photo Festival and Belfast Harbour provides free public access to the work of two international photographic artists, with artwork displayed along Belfast’s waterfront.
Each artist’s work will be exhibited for three months, beginning at Easter, with the ‘Wildermann’ exhibition by French portrait photographer Charles Fréger, followed by Italian still life photographer, Guido Mocafico from June.
Designed so the public can experience the work from multiple angles and perspectives, the exhibition will be staged on five special, purpose-built triangular display frameworks and will show 15 pieces of art in total over the six-month period.
Allison Dowling, Director of Communications and Marketing at Belfast Harbour said:
“This outdoor photographic exhibition is a first for City Quays and we are delighted to showcase this innovative visual art gallery within Belfast Harbour Estate. Investing in our communities and creating a ‘Port for Everyone’ is core to Belfast Harbour’s strategy, and we encourage local communities, visitors and our Estate partners to visit and enjoy this superb exhibit of photographic art.”
Michael Weir, Founder at Belfast Photo Festival commented:
“Belfast Harbour and Belfast Photo Festival share a common goal of connecting Belfast to the world, and this partnership aims to do just that by creating a cultural space within the Harbour Estate to bring visitors to the waterfront area. Staging the exhibition in an outdoor public space creates 24/7 access for the local community and encourages passers-by and visitors to the area to engage with it freely.”
Brona Whittaker, Head of Arts at Arts & Business NI also reflected on the new partnership:
“Arts & Business NI were delighted to help broker this new partnership between Belfast Photo Festival and Belfast Harbour, and to support this outdoor gallery initiative via our Investment Programme.
“This project is a real showcase of how cultural and private sector businesses, with shared ambitions and values, can come together to great something amazing. We look forward to seeing this exciting exhibition which will be free to the public and will undoubtedly attract many people into the area and animate this public space.”
