Bristol Recognised As A Centre Of Ecellence In Contemporary Art
City chosen as host city for major exhibitions

24 July 2006: Bristol's selection as host city for two major exhibitions of contemporary art, Beck's Futures 2006 and British Art Show 6, testifies to its role as a vital hub for visual culture in the UK and the South West.

British Art Show 6, the most ambitious survey of new and recent developments in art from the UK, culminated in Bristol on 15 July. It represents the most significant collaboration across visual arts organisations ever seen in Bristol. Arnolfini, Spike Island, Bristol's City Museum & Art Gallery, R O O M, Royal West of England Academy and Station will all host parts of the exhibition.

An ambitious roster of capital projects over the last five years has transformed the city's visual art community. Arnolfini underwent a major £12.7 million refurbishment programme from 2003 to 2005 to increase exhibition space and improve facilities. Watershed underwent a £3.5 million capital development programme completed in April 2005 which included a new 100-seat cinema, reconfiguration of events spaces, extending the café and a new customer lift. Spike Island, Europe's largest studio space, is currently undergoing a £2.25 million redevelopment, and will reopen to the public in January 2007.

British Art Show 6 follows Beck's Futures, the leading contemporary art prize for young artists, which was held by Arnolfini at A-Bond in Bristol for the first time in April this year.

Looking Ahead
Bristol has some of the most diverse and engaging exhibition spaces in the country. Many are presenting new exhibitions and events to coincide with British Art Show 6. These include:

	Wig Wam Bam! - Bristol's Red Lodge, Park Row, Bristol 15 July - 17 September Plan 9 will present a selection of Bristol-based artists along side British Art Show 6. Wig Wam Bam! is curated by British Art Show 6 artists Claire Barclay and Marcus Coates, and Bristol Savage Geoff Molyneux. The artists chosen for the exhibition have been asked to respond to Red Lodge, the exhibition venue, an Elizabethan House owned by Bristol's Museums, Galleries and Archives. The Bristol Savages are a society of artists who whose "wigwam", or studio, is built in the grounds of Red Lodge.
	Watershed Media Centre will present Is the Gallery the New Cinema or Cinema the New Art? 17 - 21 July This wide-ranging series will include artist screenings, lectures and panel discussions exploring issues around filmmaking, art and the cinema.
	Situations Symposium Curating Post Nation: Rethinking the Survey Exhibition for the Biennial Age 15 September, 3.30 - 5.30pm & 16 September 10am - 4.30pm Acclaimed contemporary art curators, including Alex Farquharson and Andrea Schlieker, co-curators of British Art Show 6 and Ralph Rugoff, Director of Hayward Gallery, will reflect on the value of survey exhibitions such as BAS6.
Comming up in Bristol:
	Mariele Neudecker Kindertotenlieder at Colston Hall, Bristol 11 August - 23 September Picture This, in an joint commission with Opera North, presents a groundbreaking commission and exhibition that fuses contemporary visual art with classical music and literature. The artist Mariele Neudecker has created a five-part moving image installation in response to Gustav Mahler's 1901 song cycle Kindertotenlieder (Songs on the Death of Children).
	Albert Oehlen I Will Always Champion Bad Painting at Arnolfini 30 September - 26 November 2006 This is the first exhibition in the UK by influential German artist Albert Oehlen. Presented in two parts, the first part opens at the Whitechapel, London (7 July - 3 September). A student of Sigmar Polke and a collaborator of Martin Kippenberger, the exhibition will include his large abstract works, 'computer' paintings, Grey paintings, collages and poster works.
	Stephen Cox Sculptor: Origins & Influences at Bristol's City Museum & Art Gallery 30 September - 26 November Stephen Cox, the internationally acclaimed Bristol-born sculptor, will present work from throughout his career, tracing its origins and development over that time. There will be a particular emphasis on the great influence that Egypt, India and Italy have had on his work, both in form and content, which is particularly pertinent to the museum's extensive Egyptian collections, Indian objects and Italian old master paintings.

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For further press information please contact:
Anna Cusden
Kallaway
020 7221 7883
anna.cusden@kallaway.co.uk

About Bristol's visual arts
The selection of Bristol as a host city for Beck's Futures and British Art Show 6 highlights the city's growing importance as a national hub for the production and display of contemporary art in the UK. Bristol has a heritage of creative industries, artistic communities and increasing number of interesting spaces for experimental and creative exchange.

Roger Malbert, Head of Hayward Touring, said: "Bristol was selected as a host venue for British Art Show 6 in acknowledgement of the city's burgeoning contemporary art scene, marked by the redevelopment of two of its major venues, Arnolfini and Spike Island, and the exciting and challenging programme of commissioning public art being run by Situations. A number of new commissions and live events organised by the Bristol Visual Arts Consortium will extend the exhibition into the very fabric of the city and make for a spectacular finale to the tour."

Mariam Sharp, Head of Visual Arts and Literature for Arts Council England, South West said: "Arts investment over the last few years, and joint working to raise the profile of culture within the city, have increased Bristol's national and international profile for the visual arts. Arts Council lottery funding has levered further funding and contributed to Bristol's increased profile as a centre for visual arts and culture. This has brought the benefits of increased cultural tourism and attracted new audiences to access, engage with and enjoy visual culture."

Some of the places and spaces that make up Bristol's vibrant contemporary art scene are:

CONTEMPORARY GALLERIES

Arnolfini
Arnolfini, established in 1961 is one of the UK's most important contemporary public art galleries. Refurbished in 2005, the former tea warehouse on Bristol's canal side has a programme of contemporary art exhibitions. The new A Bond space has further increased Arnolfini's ability to stage broad ranging contemporary exhibitions such as Beck's Futures and British Art Show 6.

Spike Island
Spike Island is a national centre combining studio and gallery space for the contemporary visual arts. Located at the edge of Bristol's harbourside, the organisation provides artists with the place, time and opportunity to research, develop and exhibit their work to a growing audience. Spike Island is currently undergoing a £2.25 million refurbishment, and is closed to the public until early 2007. When the building re-opens, Spike Island will be able to offer wider access to artists and audiences, and a much more welcoming, social building.

ROOM
ROOM is an artist run space situated in the centre of Bristol, very near the docks. It was built as an artist/architect collaboration and has been operating since April 2003, hosting exhibitions, talks and films, while working with many different partners in the city. R O O M combines private and public funding to show current art practice from both emerging and established artists, many of whom are from the South West of England. It also provides a launch pad for young artists, curators and those seeking a career in the arts.

Watershed
Britain's first dedicated media centre, Watershed opened in 1982. Housed in former industrial premises on Bristol's waterfront, the building now features three cinemas, a Café/Bar, a suite of event/conferencing spaces, and online exhibition. Whilst Watershed's cinemas bring world moving image culture to local audiences, the www.dShed.net web platform projects local talent to the world. New skills and content are being developed by working in collaboration with artists, filmmakers, media companies, community groups and schools.

ORGANISATIONS


Picture This
Picture This is a moving image projects agency that commissions contemporary visual arts works and produces exhibitions, publications and touring initiatives. Picture This works in partnership with a range of organisations from galleries and colleges to public sites. The agency commissions new works and provides creative technology services and organises residencies, research and presentation opportunities.

Situations
Situations is a research and commissioning programme devised to investigate the significance of place in the commissioning and production of contemporary art works. It seeks to create a unique network of debates and projects which radiate from its Bristol base across South West England, nationally and internationally, informing the ways in which art is commissioned and made. It is led by the University of the West of England in association with Bristol-based partners such as Arnolfini and includes public lectures, conferences and symposia and publications as well as the commissioning of new artists' projects.

Plan 9
Plan 9 is an artist-led commissioning & curating body that aims to stage high quality arts events and exhibitions outside the traditional gallery structure.

Jamaica Street Studios
The second largest studio space in Bristol, Jamaica Street Studios provides studio space and facilities for a wide range of artists.

Mivart Street Studios
Mivart Street Studios occupies a former Victorian factory squeezed into a residential street off St. Mark's Road in Easton. The large, red brick building has housed various industries over the last century including aircraft construction and clothing manufacture. Today it is home to an eclectic mix of over 40 visual artists, designers, performance artists and craftspeople.

The Architecture Centre
The Architecture Centre is an independent organisation dedicated to the promotion and exploration of excellence in all aspects of the built environment.

It was founded by the Bristol Centre for the Advancement of Architecture (BCAA), a charitable trust. The Centre's programme includes exhibitions, guided tours, visits, discussions, workshops and lectures. BCAA also works with schools and colleges on ways of using the built environment as a teaching medium

MUSEUMS

Bristol's City Museum & Art Gallery
Bristol's premier museum and art gallery, this magnificent building houses important collections of minerals and fossils, natural history, eastern art, world wildlife, Egyptology, archaeology and seven galleries of fine and applied art. The museum has an ever-changing programme of temporary exhibitions and an engaging public events programme.

The Museum is dedicating 2006 as the Year of Art. From temporary exhibitions and events to its own collections of fine and contemporary art, the Museum will bring together a variety of work from artists of many styles and backgrounds.

Royal West of England Academy
The Royal West of England Academy (RWA) was founded in 1844 as Bristol's first art gallery. It houses five magnificent, naturally lit galleries within its Grade II* listed building. The RWA remains at the forefront of contemporary art in the South West and offers a varied and imaginative programme of major one-man, mixed and open exhibitions supported by lectures, workshops and other educational events.

The RWA is a self-supporting registered charity whose aim is to promote excellence and enjoyment of painting, sculpture and architecture.

The RWA has a growing collection of works of art from the late 19th Century to contemporary art and has recently become a fully registered museum.

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