In this series Romina Provenzi, a specialist of the Cuban art market and of the London art scene, discusses a number of no profit spaces in London.
The South Bank has become a prime cultural destination in London, after a decade of refurbishments and significant public investments. Nowadays, the area is populated by numerous cultural institutions, most of them located along the Thames walkway between Westminster and London Bridge. Over two square miles, aligned one after the other, are the SouthBank Centre, the Purcell Room, the Hayward Gallery, the British Film Institute (BFI), the National Theatre, the Tate Modern and the Shakespeare Globe Theatre among its most distinguished sites.
In 2010, the SouthBank is once again experiencing a new phase of expansion, with the underway development of a brand new film centre as part of the BFI. On 18th of October 2009, the BFI announced a plan to develop "a visionary new film centre on the London's South Bank," just a few yards away from its current premises. The plan is backed by a 45 million pounds funding by the government. This is happening only three years after the refurbishment of the old National Film Theatre, which reopened under the new name of BFI in early 2007, and since then has hosted an astonishing average of 12 million visitors' per-year according to the Institute's Annual Report.
The previous renovation increased the BFI capacity by adding the BFI Gallery, a new space that hosts exhibitions of video in contemporary art. The idea to create an art gallery as part of a film institute sprang from the innovative vision of Amanda Neville, the Director of the Institute, and Eddie Berg, its Artistic Director. The Gallery showcases synergies between cinema and contemporary visual art. The BFI's vision is to develop a purpose-built international centre for film and moving image culture in London. According to Berg "the BFI's mission statement is to present and promote the moving image in all its forms. The creation of BFI SouthBank in 2007 provided an opportunity for the Institute to reclaim some of the artistic territory and rhetoric around moving image cultural practice that the contemporary art world has appropriated over the past 15 years. The Gallery programme situates this work within the histories, traditions and ideas of cinema. This development has been critical in repositioning the BFI and in reaffirming its wider and more pluralistic view of what constitutes cinema now and its future possibilities".
MOVING IMAGE
The BFI also underwent an internal renewal with the appointment of its new curator who enthusiastically advances the new vision. Elisabetta Fabrizi, appointed Head of Exhibitions since 2007, has a strong background in contemporary art and acquired significant experience at the Baltic and at the Milton Keynes Gallery. She is keen on explaining the Institute's philosophy: "The BFI Gallery is a contemporary art space sited within a cinemateque, which examines and presents the richness of production of experimental moving image work within the visual arts world. It also looks at how today's filmmakers are producing work for gallery spaces. The programme brings together the investigations and interest of two constituencies - that of the visual arts and that of film - to encourage mutual understanding and cross fertilisation of audiences."
The BFI Gallery has established a strong reputation within cinema audience and the competitive London contemporary art community. To achieve this success, the Institute relies on a careful selection of artists and innovative commissioned projects which ensure a top-notch quality of its exhibitions. Renowned artists who exhibited works at the BFI include Jane & Louise Wilson, Peter Campus, Iain Forsyth & Jane Pollard just to mention a prominent few. A year ago the BFI Gallery commissioned a new body of video work to the well-established British artist Mark Collishaw, whose show is due to open in late February and it is intrepidly expected by the London contemporary art community. This is a sign of the Institute's appreciation in the London art scene.
The prospects of the Institute seem bright, the public shows enthusiasm, and in the view of many the underway renovation might well launch the BFI as a world leader. Time will judge.
Romina PROVENZI
is a writer and lives in London. She writes on contemporary art given the political, social and economic context that surrounds the art system.