The Photographers Gallery - Pubs and bars to play host to venue during refurbishment
Published: 10 September 2010
by JAMIE WELHAM
THE Photographers’ Gallery in Soho is set to take up residence in pubs and bars in the West End while it undergoes a multi-million pound refurbishment.
Barrio Central, Poland Street, is one of a number of venues in the area that are due to host exhibitions while the gallery is transformed into a “cultural oasis” when it reopens in September 2011.
It is hoped the rotating programme will open up exhibitions for people who might not ordinarily visit a gallery.
The venue, the first photography gallery in London when it opened in 1972, is to close on September 19 and reopen in time to celebrate its 40th anniversary.
Under the £8.7million refurbishment, the gallery will be expanded and also feature a new bookshop and café.
Brett Rogers, director of the gallery, said: “I’m trying to embed us in Soho life. There are people who love the gallery and have followed us from our original home in Great Newport Street here but I don’t think that what the gallery offers to Soho and to London is really well known to all the media-savvy and fashion types who work around the corner.”