Arnolfini Gallery

This venue is pretty cool, it’s a massive building with three floors and kind of has a basic industrial feel, however it changes so much depending on what kind of event they have running on a given day. I visited recently and they had a modern arts exhibition which was very funky and unusual — intentional artistic graffiti covered the entire interior of the building which was definitely alternative! It is also in a great location, it’s located right on the waterfront — so somewhere cool to pop into if you’re wandering around this area on a sunny day!
The Arnolfini has light and dark rooms for various artistic shows, as well as an independent arty cinema, a reading room, café and a gift shop — if you love you’re art and checking out local talent then it’s definitely somewhere worth dropping into. This place is somewhere that you definitely need to check the listings for before you visit — unless you don’t mind a surprise — because the events they put on vary dramatically. The types of events include art exhibitions, live music, live art performances, films etc… I’d definitely recommend this venue, so check it out and pop on down!

als ich in bristol gewohnt habe, war ich gerne dort. spaziergang am hafen und dann auf einen kaffee im arnolfini war vor über zehn jahren zuletzt da, aber denke noch oft zurück.

The Arnolfini is a Bristol establishment that everyone I’ve met really cherishes. Mainly it is a contemporary art gallery, but also plays host to events, film screenings and dance and music performances.
The entire gallery has three floors, and each is usually occupied with an exhibition. I’ve found that most times, there is one main exhibition that runs through the whole gallery, with maybe only one or two separate ones in smaller rooms.
This place provides quite a hit and miss experience, of course depending on what you personally enjoy in art. I would say half the times that I’ve been here, I’ve enjoyed what the Arnolfini has to offer, and often leave quite inspired. However the other half of the time, I walk in and the whole space is taken up by children’s activities, to try and engage them more in the exhibition that’s on. This is great for the kids but creates quite a confusing atmosphere for the adults that walk in and expect to see more art, and instead see about 50 children in what looks like a giant activities room.
The best thing to do before coming here is to check on their website for more information of the exhibitions, and you can come for the ones that tick your fancy, and avoid others that don’t.