The Homeless Gallery operates without funds or restrictions as to who may exhibit or what they may exhibit, and at no cost to exhibitors.

The Homeless Gallery finds a benefactor who will loan us a suitable space for a week. The word goes out - photographers bring their work and hang it - we have an opening party - the general public comes to view the work - we have a closing party.... and so the cycle continues.

To register your participation: http://vic.aipp.com.au/homelessgallery/register.php>

Venue: Collingwood Housing Estate Underground Carpark
Harmsworth Street, Collingwood, Victoria, Australia
melways ref 2C G8
Saturday October 4th 'Hanging Day' for participants from 8am to 5pm [absolutely no more registrations after 5pm]
'Versinage' opening party for participants and their guests from 6pm to 9pm

Open to the public Sunday October 5th to Sunday October 12th* Homeless Gallery open to the public daily, from 10am to 5pm. [*4pm closing on Sunday October 12th] Admission is free.

Take down work from 4pm to 6pm, followed by 'Finisage' party for all Homeless Gallery and Melbourne Fringe participants.

HISTORY
The idea for the Homeless Gallery was born in the minds of two well known Polish photographers - Tomek Sikora and Andrzej Swietlik.It is homeless because it has no permanent address. It appears for a short while, after which it disappears, only to reappear again in a completely different place. It appears wherever a place becomes available to give photography a home for a short while.

The concept of organising the Homeless Gallery is extremely simple. First we look for a good location [empty factories, buildings awaiting re development, or any other suitable place]. Then we arrange with the owners if, and for how long, we can have an exhibition in the chosen place. It is important that the space is loaned to us for free, for the simple reason that the Homeless Gallery functions with absolutely no funds. next, through the grapevine, we send information to potential participants. Where possible we use the mass media to spread the news.

All those interested are asked to contact us by email. We then add them to our contact list so they can learn all the details and be notified about forthcoming editions of the Homeless Gallery.

The whole idea of the Homeless Gallery is that there are no entry criteria. What is eventually shown during an exhibition depends solely on the participants own self- censorship. We do not select the participants. Anybody can show their work, be they star photographers, professionals, those just starting out in photography, students and amateurs. We do not select the work either. We have no demands as to subject, technique, format, or number of photographs shown. The photographs themselves can be displayed in gilt frames or just be prints stuck to the wall.

On the day chosen for the opening all the participants arrive with their photographs and an assortment of equipment needed to hang them - hammer nails, double sided tape, wire, etc. etc. Everybody finds a piece of wall for themselves [or ceiling, or floor] and hangs their work. We like to see all unconventional forms of display - during the first edition in Warsaw, photographs were hung off ladders, steel frames, on bathroom tiles, stair bannisters, or were simply placed in potato crates.

When the hammers fall silent and everything is ready, then comes time for the opening. At the agreed time all the participants arrive with their personal guests. Everybody, if they so wish, can bring something to treat their guests with. And then comes the general integration.

For the entire duration of the exhibition, the participants take turns to watch over the gallery. Everyone must find time to take his/her turn at looking after their own - and the other's - work. Before the opening we also call for volunteers to clean up the gallery.

On the final day of the exhibition we hold the closing ceremony - a repeat of the opening. After that, everybody takes down their work and returns home with their photographs.

And that's more or less how it works.

You may well ask why we do all this. We can put forward several reasons.

The Homeless Gallery exists to enable everybody to show their work publicly - those who for various reasons would have no chance otherwise to show their work to the world. It is for those who can't afford a prestigious gallery, and for those who would never even think of doing so. For those who are students, or are just entering photography it's a chance to be noticed. For professionals it's a chance to show some of their more personal work that never finds it's way into their commercial portfolios. For amateurs it's a chance of showing their work to people other than just their family and near friends. For those who are shy it's a chance to pull out those photographs hidden away in drawers.

The idea of the Homeless Gallery is to be a showcase as well as a cyclical photographic event. Coming to the gallery means that everybody can see what's hot in the world of photography. They can meet the authors and talk with them, and maybe even buy a photograph. For the photographers themselves it's a chance to get to know each other, thus further integrating the photographic environment. On top of that we also invite all sorts of musicians, dj's, mimes and other independent artists to show themselves during our exhibitions.

The Homeless Gallery is an independent enterprise, and has something of the atmosphere of a squat. After the first edition, towards the end of May in Warsaw, in a building lent to us by T Matan [180 people showed about 2000 photographs] a group of fanatics was formed to spread the word amongst their friends to think about organising such an event in their home towns. At the same time they let each other know about other interesting photographic events and exhibitions all over Poland.

The second edition of the Homeless Gallery took place in Gdansk, between Aug. 3rd. to 11th. 2002. The developer Synergia 99, the owner of the land that used to belong to the Gdansk shipyards gave us access to to a huge shipyard hall built in the 1940's. This event attracted 330 participants from all over Poland, and visitors to the Gallery could view about 3500 photographs on two levels of the factory hall.

Tomek Sikora
Warsaw Poland Nov. 2002