CJ Wagstaff casts his eye over this new month-long, Wales-wide celebration of world-class photography – assembled by Ffotogallery in Cardiff but taking place across seven towns and cities, Ffoto Cymru looks set to be a worthy successor to its previous incarnation, the Diffusion Festival.
Running throughout October, Cardiff’s Ffotogallery is proud to present the inaugural Ffoto Cymru, a brand-new international photography festival spanning venues across Wales.
With multiple participating partner galleries, new and returning audiences throughout the country are invited to engage with work in contemporary photography in a programme of exhibitions, installations, conversations and events. The exciting lineup launches across dedicated spaces in Cardiff, Swansea, Merthyr Tydfil, Penarth, Wrexham, Ruthin and Carmarthen.
In its freshman year, the biennial pays its dues to women pioneering in lens-based media with an abundance of female talent. With an overarching theme titled What You See Is What You Get?, Ffoto Cymru aims to deliver meaningful contributions to vitally relevant discourse around the craft, querying the minutiae of what photographic images mean to modern societies, from the very first cameras to cutting-edge tech.
Expanding on the ethos of its precursor, the Diffusion Festival, Ffoto Cymru’s foundations rest upon a decade of successes from its predecessor as it shines a spotlight on a diverse patchwork of international art. In its evolved form, the festival resolves to celebrate and nurture an inclusive organic network of photographers as it asks how the practice can model a fair and feasible world.
At the heart of this venture is Darnau / Fragments, a retrospective study of Aberystwyth photographer Marian Delyth. Showing at Ffotogallery from Thurs 3 Oct-Sat 14 Dec and covering 50 years of Delyth’s journey, the exhibition reflects the profound influence of her creative output, featuring documentary work in culture and activism which provides a multi-layered perspective of life and living in Wales.
Approaching her subjects with esteem and compassion, Delyth conveys in her work a truthful representation of the countercultures which form the fabric of our society, divulging a candid and sensitive rendering of Welsh communities. This far-reaching and comprehensive inventory of the work seeks to honour Delyth’s immense contributions to Welsh art as it consolidates her status as a heavyweight in the craft.
Further west, in Swansea’s artist-led Elysium Gallery, the festival tends the roots of a new collaboration with the proliferous Foto Féminas network, which endeavours to provide increased global visibility for women and non-binary photographers in Latin America and the Caribbean, with curation credits in Argentina, China, Guatemala, Peru, Chile and Mexico.
October will see this High Street space platform three international artists: Brazil’s Luiza Possami Kons, and Lorena Macheta and Julieta Anaut, both from Argentina, to exhibit their distinctive work in the UK for the first time. Aided by the support of the British Council, this alliance places Wales at the centre of a flourishing global community which strives to foreground human connection and exchange.
Other venues opening their doors to the festivities are pleased to introduce a selection of newly commissioned work from four young women photographers operating out of Wales. Holly Davey (exhibited in Cardiff’s National Museum), Adéọlá Dewis (at Cyfarthfa Castle in Merthyr), Jessie Edwards-Thomas (in Penarth’s Cemetery Chapel) and Ada Marino (exhibiting all month at both the Wrexham School Of Art and the Cardiff HQ of Gaunt Francis Architects) present work which challenges, exposes, remembers and uplifts in a series of courageous and affecting exhibitions.
With its discerning catalogue of creators and partners, Ffoto Cymru promises to be more than a celebration of photography: it’s a powerful reminder of the vibrant miscellany of perspectives which shapes our understanding of Wales and the world. Through the labour of both emerging and established talent, this cultural event is sure to raise the profile of Wales as a major artistic force as it offers a new context for positive connections.
Ffoto Cymru 2024: Wales International Festival Of Photography, various locations across Wales throughout October.
Admission: FREE. Info: Ffoto Cymru on Facebook
words CJ WAGSTAFF
