Hundreds attend launch of photography festival
The Guernsey Photography Festival opening night at the former Income Tax office showed there is a demand for an arts centre that need not be an expensive new building, according to the festival’s director.
Hundreds gathered across the floors of the former States of Guernsey Tax premises on Saturday night for a party to launch the month-long use of the space as a multi-media gallery.
The festival, which has been run biannually for 10 years, showcases work from worldwide celebrated artists as well as local talent.
A selection of students from Erasmus (European Community Action Scheme for the Mobility of University Students) from University of South Wales also displayed their work along the corridors.
Prints appear on any available space, from the former canteen to cupboards and even the building’s lifts.
Festival director Jean-Christophe Godet said nothing like this had ever been done in the island to his knowledge and the evening had been a total success.
‘It has been two years in the making. We knew that we needed to reinvent ourselves because the infrastructure in Guernsey is not there.
‘I contacted the States of Guernsey and asked if they had any empty buildings and they said we could have this free of charge.
‘We explored the options with an architect and they said it was going to be hard work but we did it.
‘We’ve utilised every bit of space and had these temporary walls erected within some rooms to avoid the claustrophobic feeling.
‘We wanted to move away from photography as an exclusive or VIP art form.
‘Tonight we’ve had a lot of young people enjoying the music and having a beer, looking around and feeling cool.
‘It was inspired a lot by the art spaces in Peckham, using old buildings.
‘It shows we don’t necessarily need to spend money on a new arts centre because the scene is already here – it just needs a place to gather,’ he said.
DJs from the Vale Earth Fair Collective and the band Track Not Found played on the night, with a bar provided as a fundraiser for the festival by the collective, which has supported the arts locally for 40 years.
‘I would like to invite any politicians to come down here and see the exhibition while it is on,’ said Mr Godet.
