£40,000 award for Derby's FORMAT International Photography Festival to develop online

People will be able to check out exhibitions and archives online at this year's FORMAT International Film Festival following a £40,000 grant from the Art Fund.

The festival, which is the leading festival of its kind in the United Kingdom, has been awarded the money by the Art Fund.

Exhibitions, events and participation are envisaged for the new virtual and multiplayer space for FORMAT which launches on March 11, 2021.

The exhibitions will include more than 70 international artists and a selection of the 38,000 images submitted from more than 90 countries from the #massisolationFORMAT archive created during the Covid19 pandemic.

An important part of the project is to research social engagement online and to ensure access for diverse audiences.

To help deliver the project, the art and film centre QUAD – where the annual festival is held – have partnered with a team of artist technologists called New Art City, based in Los Angeles.

Louise Fedotov-Clements, artistic director, QUAD/Director FORMAT said: “We are immensely proud to receive support from the Art Fund which will enable us to push the boundaries of our work, to develop our new programmes online, in such an innovative way in collaboration with an inspiring team of technologists together with my programme team at QUAD/FORMAT we will be building an arts space of the future for audiences to explore today.”

Debbie Cooper, producer FORMAT said: “This support from the Art Fund enables us to deliver the highest quality festival experience at time when we all need art in our lives.”

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