Girl Gaze launch at BLAST! Photo Festival

Emma Chetcuti of Blast! and Multistory introduces Creative Director of CBC Parminder Dosanjh

Saturday 25th May saw the launch of the Black Country leg of Girl Gaze at the British Muslim School in West Bromwich as part of the new BLAST! Photo Festival by Multistory.

We were fortunate to have all of our artists at the event; Andrea Fernandes and Uzma Mohsin flew in from India while Jocelyn Allen traveled down from Liverpool and Jennifer Pattison up from London.

The exhibition launch, which was shared with Dawinder Bansal and her exhibition ‘Asian Women and Cars’, was buzzing with exhibition participants from the Girl Gaze photos and their families as well as those from Dawinder’s project.

Thank you to everyone that took the time to come along to the launch and see the works - which had been given a fresh look from those originally showcased in Chandigarh (due to the different exhibition space) and giving the exhibition a whole new feel.

The exhibition continues as part of the festival until the 29th June and free to attend Wednesday to Saturdays.

Jocelyn Allen’s work ‘You Will Live in This World as A Daughter’

Uzma Mohsin displays her multi-layered images in light boxes and via a projection piece

In Panjab Court, Andrea Fernandes offers us a window through which to investigate how culture, tradition, nationality and place impact upon the way we perceive and represent ourselves.

Jennifer Pattison’s work includes a projection of Punjabi lori’s (lullabies) from Indian films

We thoroughly recommend checking out the rest of the festival while you are in West Bromwich and around Sandwell. Just around the corner, in West Brom’s stunning Town Hall, is the beautiful project by Dutch artist Erik Kessels who unearthed a wealth of amazing photos of Tipton Carnival Queens - he displays the images in wonderfully a unique way.

The Caravan Gallery in the former Poundland in Kings Square (opposite the Bus Station) is full of brilliant work by world-renowned photographers. They are hosting events throughout the entire festival.

Pick up a brochure and catch what you can - see more here.