Harrogate's oldest gallery shows it is cutting edge in collaboration with UK's coolest arts magazine
Harrogate has linked-up with one of Britain’s most cutting edge festivals and arts magazines in an exciting new film venture for the town’s public art gallery.
Delivered in partnership with York-based international arts organisation Aesthetica, the gallery on Swan Road in Harrogate is presenting Power and Identity: Five Women Filmmakers.
Launched in 2003 by founder and director Cherie Federico, Aesthetica Magazine is distributed in 900 locations across the UK, exported to 20 countries and has a reach of 550,000.
The Aesthetica Film Festival is BAFTA-qualifying key event in the UK for film and screen culture.
It’s only recently that Mercer Art Gallery has developed the facilities to exhibit video, film, audio or digital art.
The public gallery’s curator Karen Southworth said it was “very exciting” to have created a new display space with the capacity to exhibit such work.
“We are now able to extend the range of art we can bring to North Yorkshire’s audiences.
"Aesthetica have been fantastic in sharing their expertise and for putting together a prestigious programme of work by five female filmmakers who are showing at biennales and galleries nationally and internationally.”
Cherie Federico has curated a bold selection of films by five international artists, all of whom have received Aesthetica awards at previous stages of their prestigious careers.
The featured artists are: Jasmina Cibic, Juliana Kasumu, Manjinder Virk, Michelle Williams Gamaker and Rhea Storr.
The five films, one of which features actors Riz Ahmed and Tom Hiddlestone, explore themes such as colonial legacy, nation building, diaspora, the ethics of representation and the impact of war.
“Aesthetica is pleased to enable a North Yorkshire gallery to showcase time-based media for the first time,” said its founder Cherie Federico.
"As a collection, the pieces celebrate female talent and ask important questions about identity and power.”
"This sort of collaboration demonstrates the capacity of our region for creativity and digital innovation.”
More information at: https://aestheticamagazine.com/
Current exhibitions at Mercer Art Gallery also include: We Think the World of You - People and Dogs Drawn Together by David Remfry MBE RA and Exquisite portraits by Eva Leigh Walker.