BFI Gallery facts for kids

The BFI Gallery was a special art gallery in London that showed art made with moving images, like films and videos. It was part of the BFI Southbank, which is a big place for films run by the BFI. The gallery opened on March 14, 2007, and was supported by the BFI and Arts Council England.

The BFI Gallery was known for showing new artworks and hosting events and film screenings by artists. Elisabetta Fabrizi, who was in charge of exhibitions at the BFI, chose the art for the gallery.

What Kind of Art Did the Gallery Show?

The BFI Gallery featured many famous artists who used film and video to create their art. It was a place where you could see exciting and new ways of telling stories or exploring ideas through moving pictures.

Some of the artists who showed their work there included:

• Michael Snow
• John Akomfrah
• Apichatpong Weerasethakul
• Pierre Bismuth
• Jane & Louise Wilson
• Peter Campus
• Patrick Keiller
• Phil Collins
• Matt Collishaw
• Yvonne Rainer
• Julian Rosensfeld
• Michel Gondry
• Deimantas Narkevicious
• Mark Lewis

The gallery also showed special film programs that went along with the art exhibitions. For example, there were retrospectives (shows looking back at all the works) of films by Sergei Parajanov and Michael Snow.

Famous Exhibitions

The BFI Gallery gained a great reputation around the world for showing new and exciting art. Visitors had rare chances to see works by top artists.

Some important exhibitions included:

• John Akomfrah's 'Mnemosyne' (2010): This film explored themes of memory and migration in the West Midlands of England. It mixed old film footage from the 1960s to 1980s with new pictures of Birmingham. People described it as "mind blowing" because it was a powerful mix of documentary and poetic storytelling.
• Julian Rosefeldt’s 'American Night' (2010): This was a complex film installation with five screens. It used the style and images from American Western movies to subtly ask questions about recent US foreign policy.
• Yvonne Rainer Project' (2010): This was the first major show in Europe for Yvonne Rainer, a legendary American dancer, choreographer, and filmmaker. Her work looked at the balance between political ideas and private life. The exhibition included three of her artworks, along with screenings of her feature films and videos by other artists who explore dance for the camera.
• Phil Collins: 'Marxism Today' (2010): This exhibition was a playful look back at the past. It showed films, videos, and photos of life in former East Germany. It also included interesting memories from teachers who taught about Marxism-Leninism there.

Why Did the Gallery Close?

The BFI Gallery closed down because the British government decided to cut funding for the BFI. This meant the BFI had to review all its activities. The space where the gallery used to be was then turned into the BFI Reuben Library, which opened in 2012.

To remember the gallery, a special book called 'The BFI Gallery Book' was published in January 2011.