Swindon & Wiltshire News
Bristol office block to become free public photo gallery
A landmark Bristol office building will open its doors to the public this autumn as a free gallery for Bristol Photo Festival.
Welcome Building, at 4 Glass Wharf near Temple Meads, will host five international exhibitions from Wednesday, October 14 to Sunday, November 15 as the biennial returns for its third edition under the theme Time Machine.
A floor of the multi-award-winning workplace will be transformed into a public exhibition hub, welcoming visitors alongside the building’s usual office community. It will stage shows, talks, tours and events in the heart of Bristol’s business district.
Among the highlights is Common Sense, a tribute to the late Bristol-based photographer Martin Parr, the festival’s inaugural artistic director and one of Britain’s most influential photographers.
Originally made using inexpensive colour photocopies, the project challenged conventional ideas about how photography should be displayed. It will now be shown in the unusual setting of a contemporary office building.
Welcome Building will also present Maria Lax’s Stray Sod (pictured), exploring folklore, storytelling and uncertain landscapes, and Photo Kegham, curated by Kegham Djeghalian Jr. The latter draws on the archive of Gaza’s first commercial photography studio, founded in 1944 by his grandfather, Kegham Deghalian Sr.
The venue partnership was supported by Bristol BID and brings together the festival and the city’s commercial property sector. It aims to open up spaces not normally used for public culture while strengthening links between Bristol’s business and creative communities.
Sabrina Shutter, senior project event manager at Bristol BID, said: “Bristol has an incredible creative community and a thriving business community, and we want to create more opportunities for those two worlds to come together.
“The Welcome Building is a brilliant example of what can happen when we look at corporate spaces differently.
“By helping connect Bristol Photo Festival with businesses and property partners, we can unlock new places for culture, bring extraordinary art to new audiences and create meaningful connections between the people who work here and Bristol’s creative community.”
Welcome Building will also host the festival’s opening event from 6pm to 9pm on 14 October, along with guided tours and a three-day masterclass with Magnum photographer Olivia Arthur.
Andrew Clarke, vice president, UK office development at Trammell Crow Company, said: “Welcome Building has been designed as much more than simply a place to work, so we’re delighted to see part of it transformed for Bristol Photo Festival.
“Opening the building to a major cultural event is a fantastic opportunity to welcome new people into the space and connect those working here with Bristol’s wider creative community.”
The wider festival will also take over Arnolfini, Bristol Museum & Art Gallery, Bristol Cathedral, IC Visual Lab, Centrespace Gallery and Redcliffe Caves.
Highlights include Joy Gregory’s Catching Flies with Honey at Arnolfini, Akshay Mahajan’s People of Clay and Sheida Solemani’s Persistence Studies at Bristol Museum & Art Gallery, and George Hallett’s Home & Exile at IC Visual Lab.
The opening week will feature artist talks, curator tours, workshops, live music and the Time Machine Festival Symposium at Arnolfini on October 16.
Festival director Alejandro Acín said: “Time Machine brings together artists and curators whose work reminds us that the present is never singular. Every photograph carries traces of multiple temporalities, memories that continue to shape us, histories that refuse to disappear and futures that remain open to possibility.”
The 2026 edition follows the 2024 festival, which drew more than 115,000 visitors across the city.
Welcome Building exhibitions will be free to visit from 12pm to 6pm, Thursday to Sunday, during the festival.
