This year, for the first time ever, we will have a creative space that will be completely ours. 1500m2 for the Tribe to hang out in, brainstorm, learn, and create: the Gallery. It won't be anything like what we had in the previous editions, this year's Gallery will have a life of its own.
Painter and THU veteran Jeremy Mann will be leading the dances with Alberto Mielgo, Jana Schirmer, Nadezda, Phil Hale, and Karla Ortiz by his side. That's a lot of talent for one room. A lot.
The space will be open from 13:30 to 3am and, apart from being the main hanging out area for everyone at the festival, it will also host confessions by artists, inspirational talks, educational activities, and late-night life drawing sessions.
“We can't call it 'The Inspirational Dream World of Artistic Knowledge' because people will get scared”, confides Jeremy. But that's probably the best way to define what this new Gallery is going to be, a reminder of the Bohemian Paris of the early 1900s.
Jeremy tells us everything we need to know about the Gallery and he does it so beautifully that you can't not read this.
What inspired or dictated the necessity of having such a location at THU?
I believe it began in the beginning because Andre knows that fine art is a rich part of any artistic endeavor. That no matter what field of artistry one is in, the way you view the world and then express your views will always have a soul in the basis of fine art, not only from painting, but in simply sketching or crafting or just looking at something. I fully believe these things which fine art has its dirty fingers in, are like a water table in the creative world, always there, always flowing, just beneath the surface. Every year at the Gallery that water flows up to flood the dry feet of the attendees and inspire them to jump into that ocean.
How do you think the Gallery experience will benefit the attendees?
It will show them that all artists, of ANY medium or profession, have the same problems. And artists who have the same problems all eat at the same family table. The Gallery will be an “experience” to be remembered, one which will change the way the attendee THINKS. You will mildly remember the entirety of a film or play you’ve watched at one point in your life, but you will definitely remember every second leading up to, and including, the moment you jump off a cliff and fly.
How do you think it will benefit the artists?
There is no greater experience than when artists get together. A group of wizards conjuring a completely new and powerful spell. Such meetings of the mind always open up new thoughts, new processes, new ways of thinking, and luckily every year has a different mix of minds. I can personally say that every artist I have met during my years at THU has now become as close as family. I’ve learned new ways of drawing, I’ve learned new ways of filming, I’ve even learned new digital processes I never thought I needed... it is inevitable and undeniably necessary that every mind and soul will be affected by the event, the artists themselves are not shielded from this, we are all on the same soil, in the same battle.
Are there any rules to follow in the Gallery?
Come with an open mind, be a blank slate, and allow yourself to change.
