I like to think of myself as pretty forward-looking, but as this little magazine project I undertook hits a twenty year milestone, I can’t help but look back with a glint of nostalgia.
In addition to throwing parties with midget angels, hosting years of Gallery Silent Disco, doing ten charity Galleryrally events, winning CIM, Enterprise, and IOD awards, and creating a dystopian-looking ice cream van in the name of Gallery, we’ve produced one hundred and ninety-eight printed editions. We’ve worked with hundreds of contributors and collaborators who want to create something progressive for Jersey, championing island creativity in art and culture, celebrating islanders’ successes, and promoting their work and businesses. We’ve been a gallery for a motivated and passionate community, outward-looking but inwardly reflecting stories and visuals created by you and people you know. Or someone who someone you know knows. Or their mate. We’re on an island, so it’s probably two degrees of separation at the most.
That’s the beauty of documenting activity in a small community; there’s always someone you know in Gallery. We have the strapline ‘We are you, you are Gallery’ on our stands, which became a bit of an internal joke in the office but does ring true. It’s never really about me or us; it’s about you. It is quite weird to think that some of you reading this and some of the amazing people we’re featuring in this edition were embryos when we produced Gallery #1 though, I have to admit.
In recognition of the big 2-0, we looked up some of our alumni and have a selection of features in this edition from a handful of our favourite columnists of yore (pg. 24). We also tracked down a load of the gang who have done Project Trident with us over the years to see what they’re up to (pg. 30). We feature a couple of businesses who share our anniversary and, as always, a cross section of profiles and creativity from portraits (pg. 52) to ponies (pg. 45) and fashion (pg. 80) to folliage (pg. 46). We also talk family law and wealth trends for the more grown-up amongst you.
Back in September 2004, Green Day released American Idiot, Desperate Housewives premiered as Friends ended and Facebook spread beyond the US University network. Here in Jersey we had an Air Display, a second edition of JerseyLive, and the hot topics in the news were the finance industry getting more compliant, concerns over population growth and housing shortages, and healthcare funding. I’d say there was probably a storm, too. That’s Jersey news for you, the world changes, but Jersey is reassuringly stable.
A massive thank you to all of you who have been picking Gallery up over the last 20 years, our brilliant clients who still see quality print as having a value you can’t communicate through a paper or TikTok, and everyone that’s ever been within these pages; you’re the best .
BD
