Arnolfini was established in 1961 by Jeremy Rees, Annabel Lawson and John Osborn, and has since gained a national and international reputation for presenting innovative, experimental work in the fields of contemporary art, film and performance. Based in Bristol, Arnolfini is dedicated to encouraging the practice and knowledge of the contemporary arts and is a dynamic centre for cultural activity and debate.

Taking its name from Jan van Eyck’s famous fifteenth century painting The Arnolfini Portrait, the organisation is located in Bristol’s habourside area in a former tea warehouse building that dates back to the 1830s. The building has been refurbished on two occasions, in 1987 by David Chipperfield and then in 2005 by Snell Associates.

Throughout its history, the Arnolfini has presented key exhibitions by many established and emerging artist’s, including Robert Smithson, Marcel Broodthaers, Susan Hiller, Vito Acconci, Liam Gillick, Art & Language and Louise Bourgeois. More recently, artists presenting solo exhibitions have included Deimantas Narkevicius, Michael Stevenson, Imogen Stidworthy, Artist Placement Group and Kerry Tribe. Major group exhibitions have included: Starting From Zero: Black Mountain College; On Purpose: Design Concepts; and Lapdogs of the Bourgeoisie: Class Hegemony in Contemporary Art.

Experimentation is at the core of Arnolfini’s objectives. 2011 is Arnolfini’s 50th anniversary year, for which it is planning a major series of exhibitions looking at the philosophical notion of the Apparatus. This includes the first solo exhibition in the UK by Cosima von Bonin, a group exhibition curated by the artist Runa Islam, as well as a historical survey of fictional museums created by artists, entitled Museum Show.

Arnolfini exhibits between six and ten exhibitions per year, and numerous performances, events and screenings.

Most outstanding projects in recent years:
“Starting From Zero: Black Mountain College”; Deimantas Narkevicius; “Lapdogs of the Bourgeoisie”; “Sequelism Pt. 3″; Tommy Stockel’s “Art of Tomorrow”; Janek Simon; Imogen Stidworthy; and Kerry Tribe.

Public events play a significant role at Arnolfini, through a programme of numerous talks, workshops and conferences. Screenings and film events occur on a weekly basis, which, whilst being a distinct programme strand, is also closely integrated with the exhibitions programme.

Recent conferences have included: Art and Activism: Who’s Recuperating Who?: Brian Holmes, Gustav Metzger, ultra-red, Ursula Biemann and Peter Fend, and the Museum Futures discussion led by Neil Cummings. Other recent speakers at Arnolfini have included Tirdad Zolghadr, Robin Mackay, Jan Verwoert, Natascha Sardr Haghigian, Glenn Adamson and Martin Creed.

Arnolfini holds approximately three major conferences per year, alongside numerous other talks and workshops.

Arnolfini has a broad range of in-house education programmes, but also in various works with various parts of the city. School and university groups have a particularly strong relationships with the institution.

Arnolfini has a good relationship with both the University of the West of England and University of Bristol. With UWE we host a regular artist lecture programme, whilst University of Bristol hosts a number of Arnolfini’s Associate Researchers, particularly within the performing arts.

Lectures with the University of West England take place every two weeks each semester.

Publishing is also a significant programme strand, which focuses particularly on artists books, as well as the biannual journal Concept Store (www.arnolfini.org.uk/journal). Recent publications have been produced by the artists Chris Evans, Jonathan Monk and Kerry Tribe.

The exhibition floors cover approximately 450 square meters across five spaces.

In addition to the galleries, Arnolfini has a large auditorium/cinema space for screenings, performances and discussion events. There are also two studio spaces, a reading room, one of the best art bookshops in the West of England, and a cafe/bar.