Great to be back in Utrecht at the studio of Kummer & Herrman where Masterplan Project was formed in 2016 when we collaborated on developing its visual concept, website and promotional material. Thanks to Arthur and Inês for a warm welcome and look forward to work on the project in the future. See new work from Masterplan tomorrow at the launch of TAXED TO THE MAX at Noorderlicht in Groningen. http://masterplan.je
Entrepot in Amsterdam /
Was recommend by a friend in Utrecht to eat at Entrepot, a restaurant at Entrepotdok in Amsterdam. Not only was the food excellent but the name and its location excited me a great deal as the concept of Entrepôt is essentially what my work about the island of Jersey is exploring . These row of warehouses, now converted to apartments were set up in 1827 to stimulate the transit trade in Amsterdam and until 1895 goods could be stored temporarily without having to pay import duties. They only had to pay duty when the goods were put on the market.
The concept of a warehouse is a good allegory for Jersey's success as a trading post. In fact, a previous Treasury Minister of Jersey often referred to the island exactly as a 'warehouse' and its semi-detached status between Europe (+ the rest of the world) and UK has directly benefited the island’s economy and indirectly shaped its identity and character. Constitutional loopholes allowing goods and services to be administered in Jersey, whatever industries were dominating in the past eg. knitting, cider, cod-fish and now finance have made the island a wealthy nation comparable to its size and population.
Both my long term projects THE SEAFLOWER VENTURE and MASTERPLAN explore Jersey’s original wealth acquired through its historical maritime trade and contemporary prosperity as an International Finance Centre with capital inflows derived across multiple jurisdictions and financial markets. They proposes to re-address parts of the legacy upon which the islands’s economic growth and development in the past, present and future has been told.
New work from Masterplan will be unveiled among work from 34 international artists as part of TAXED TO THE MAX at NoorderlichtInternational Photography Festival officially opening on Saturday 5 Oct at 17:00 in Groningen. See you there!
MASTERPLAN on the cover of Dutch magazine Pf /
Recently I spoke with Dutch magazine Pf- Professionele Fotografie about MASTERPLAN my ongoing project about the island of Jersey functioning as an International Finance Centre (IFC). Thanks to editor Ton Hendriks for commissioning the article and Lise Lotte ten Voorde for an in-depth interview about the different aspects of my research and work in the past 4 years. A selection of work from Masterplan will be exhibited as part of TAXED TO THE MAX at Noorderlicht International Photography Festival opening this Saturday 5 Oct in Groeningen. Looking forward to see the curation, special publication and hard work lead by Hester Keijser and her dedicated team.
http://www.noorderlicht.com/…/noorderlicht-internationaal-…/
https://pf.nl
http://www.noorderlicht.com/nl/fotomanifestatie/noorderlicht-internationaal-fotofestival-2019/
Recent reviews of Te Ahi Kā in New Zealand /
Two recent reviews appeared in New Zealand in New Zealand Geographic and an iwi magazine Te Karaka from Ngāi Tahu in the South Island.
‘The resulting images avoid the picturesque in favour of something more primal and shifting. The text, too, gropes at shadowy truths, chalking out its meanings in aphorisms and anecdotes, and in the interchanges between Toft and members of his adoptive whānau. Te Ahi Kā is one of the most poetic responses yet to the poignancy of Māori alienation and the life-affirming power of reconnection with the land, the river, and the world of the ancestors.' Vaughan Yarwood
Since its publication with Dewi Lewis in Nov 2018 several reviews and interviews have appeared in Aperture Foundation, GUP magazine, Photomonitor.co.uk, PhotoBook Journal, Archive Contemporary (Archive Collective Magazine), ZEITmagazin, PHmuseum, BooksellersNZ, Whanganui Chronicle, Bailiwick Express, BBC Jersey and The British Journal of Photography.
Talk On Māori Culture at Jersey Festival of Words /
On Friday 27 Sept between 13:00-14:00 I will be giving a talk about the making of Te Ahi Kā - The Fires of Occupation at Jersey Library as part of the 5th Jersey Festival of Words. Spanning more than 20 years the book explore the physical and metaphysical relationship between the ancestral Whanganui River and its indigenous people in New Zealand. I will be discussing my collaboration with Māori communities and recording my journey through the use of photography, archives and interviews.
Book tickets here: http://www.jerseyfestivalofwords.org/author/?id=3245
Taxed To The Max - exhibition publication /
Exciting things are happening in Groeningen in preparation for the exhibition TAXED TO THE MAX which will open at Noorderlicht International Photography Festival on 6 Oct - 1 Dec featuring the work of 34 international artists. Can't wait to see the hard work put in by curator Hester Keijser and her excellent team, including a publication to accompany the exhibition with a commissioned essay by Clair Quentin reflecting on wealth and power, the state and the company - all essential foundations in the origin of capitalist society and relevant themes which I am exploring in my Masterplan Project, a long-term research and photographic case study about the island of Jersey operating as an International Finance Centre (IFC)
Occupation vs Liberation Education project - update #2 /
A-Level photography students at Hautlieu School listening intently to firsthand accounts by 'Occupation babes' followed by a portrait session in the studio. Thanks to Bob Le Seur, Hedley Hinault, Joyce De La Haye and Joan Tapley for recounting personal stories and memories from the German Occupation of Jersey between 1940-45. This work is part of a major research and photographic study in the run up to 75th Liberation in May 2020 leading to multiple project outcomes that will be presented to the public. We thank all our educational partners in making this happen, Société Jersiaise Photographic Archive, Jersey Heritage, CIOS Jersey, Jersey War Tunnels and Ecole européenne supérieure d'art de Bretagne - site de Brest (EESAB)
New work from MASTERPLAN on show in Australia /
New images from MASTERPLAN - my long-term research and photographic project exploring the transformation of Jersey from a rural community centred upon agriculture, maritime trade and tourism into an international finance centre is featured in CAPITAL at Ballarat International Foto Biennale- a group exhibition featuring work from Australian and international practitioners curated by Naomi Cass and Gareth Syvret
'Applying the methods used in photographic archives for recordingarchaeological finds of pre-historic material culture, he offers these images up to the historical record. When compared with the photographs of artefacts we are familiar with from museums of ancient culture they seem absurd and of questionable value. As such Toft’s photographs question the nature of finance work as a process of production and reflect upon the status of the intangible economies that have come to dominate contemporary life.’ (extract from exhibition wall text by curator, Dr Gareth Syvret)
If you are in the Southern hemisphere go and see the excellent programme of exhibitions at Ballarat open to the public until 20 Oct!
image" Pencil Holder #1, Pencil Holder#2 and Pencil Holder#3 from Masterplan © Martin Toft, 2019
