“Me and my show ‘POP’ are very happy to be here at the HIP festival. Great location and wonderful galleries, curated by Alan Raw” (Brian Griffin 2018)
I have 35 years experience in community arts curation and facilitation. In social & formal education settings, streets, youth centres, rural mobile units, festivals, disused shops and high-class galleries. Delivering exhibitions, workshops and major events, from comic art to theatre, and from music festivals to photographic exhibitions.
I’ve enjoyed great success as a Photographic Art Curator, Gallerist, and Director of the UK’s biggest annual photography festival 2014 – 2023 HIPfest AKA Hull International Photography Festival. I was also Curator of HIP Gallery & PhotoCity London until 2024.
I have curated & co-created 120 successful exhibitions / installations across Europe, including many festivals and 3 European Capitals of Culture. My 100th exhibition was a labour of love, I curated the work of my dear late friend Marilyn Stafford. “A Fashion Retrospective, From Haute Couture to the Birth of Pret-a-Porter” October 2018. I staged the show in a disused department store, in a city centre fashion retail area. Marilyn and I worked together on it for months, and the end result was a stunning success. Resulting in a lifetime achievement award for Marilyn.
Past shows that I have directed include:
Brian Griffin (POP), Dougie Wallace (Harrodsburg), Mathew Finn (Mother & Students), John Bulmer (The North), Frieke Janssens (Dianas), Ian Macdonald (Smith’s Dock), Isabelle Pateer (Unsettled), Peter Dench (A1 Brittian On The Verge, Dench Does Dallas, The British Abroad, Alcohol & England), Ilvy Njiokiktjien (Ghetto Prom), François Brunelle (Doppelgänger), Quentin Budworth (Hullywood Icons), Rich Wiles (Palestinian Workers), Mike Harvey (TAXI), Richard Lees (The Velvet Rope), Young Travel Photographer Of The Year 2017, Antipodean (New Zealand Group Show 2015), IN&AT for the European Capitals Of Culture 2016-2017, Tom Stoddart, Jocelyn Bain Hogg, Harry Bordon, Chris Floyd, Laura Pannack, Homer Sykes, Anastasia Taylor-Lind (Great Britons of Photography at HIPfest2017) and I commissioned Ian Macdonald to create Hinterlands for HIP Gallery in 2017.
I ran PhotoCityLondon in Paternoster Square in 2017 . Which was a candid, street & architectural photography exhibition and trade show, with Fuji, Camera World & Genesis, featuring Matt Hart and many more. Followed by PhotoCity Hull for #HIPfest2018
In November 2023 HIPfest merged with Humber Eco Fest, connecting my sustainability work with my creative curatorial work. The shows addressed challenges in sustainable arts practice and were created using discarded shop fittings and found objects, on a city trail of abandoned high street stores.
HIP (Hull Independent Photography Project) is a project of The Creative & Cultural Organisation; developing cultural partnership projects locally & internationally. I founded Creative & Cultural in 1993 and I’m still a Director.
I am currently focusing on eco-futurist story creation, and have many creative storytelling workshops to deliver this year for Hull University, the Grokkist Network, ASP, East Riding Libraries, the RSA and more.
I am also enjoying serving as the Royal Society of the Arts Fellowship Councilor for the North of England.
Testimonials
“Me and my show ‘POP’ are very happy to be here in Hull at the HIP festival. Great location and wonderful galleries, curated by Alan Raw” (Photographer Brian Griffin HIPfest 2018)
“Alan has exceptional vision and innovation as a curator. Having been involved in the Hull International Festival of Photography and experienced his skills, I trust his expertise and ability to create a festival that is visually stunning and engages an audience. Alan is committed, confident and galvanises the team around him to bring out the best in his creative collaborators, leading each project with an approach that allows for creative dialogue, without losing sight of the end objective and priorities.” (Peter Dench, Getty Images, World Press Photography Award Winner, Co-Founder of the White Cloth Gallery Leeds)
“Entering into the HIP gallery we were presented with an exhibition by renowned photographer Ian Macdonald showcasing work from Smiths Dock. With nearly fifty years of material, it was incredible to see such established work beautifully curated by Alan Raw. His understanding and insight into the work allowed the audience to really engage with the prints on the wall. Isabelle Pater’s beautifully crafted large scale prints where hung high around the gallery wall, echoing works of great art. The photography on show proved to be a hit with locals and the wider photography community and the ambitious curation took viewers around Europe and lived up to its International title.” (Matt Finn, recipient of the Jerwood/ Photoworks Award
Alan Raw 