COFIO: Photography by Rhodri Jones, with art and archives that celebrate the life and work of John Ellis Jones (1929-2023), Classics Lecturer and former honorary curator of the museum.

“There is no pain so great as the memory of joy in present grief” Aeschylus

The exhibition’s focus is a selection of photographs by Rhodri Jones which are in the COFION book. They are tender photographs, many of his father John Ellis Jones, following the death of his mother, Renée, and as he developed dementia. The book also includes short essays by Angharad Price and Manon Steffan Ros, as well as selected poems which explore loss and grief. The book is an exploration of grief which is both personal and universal bringing together different responses which turn grief into a conversation.

The exhibition also celebrates John Ellis Jones’ life and work – as a dedicated classical scholar and archaeologist who communicated his passion for his subject through his teaching role in Classics at Bangor University, as honorary curator of the Museum for Bangor University and as instrumental organiser of events and meetings of the Bangor Classical Association. Art and archives which capture John’s expertise and energy include archaeological illustrations based on his work in Attica and the Agrileza silver ore mining site, a selection of posters he illustrated for the numerous lectures and play readings he organised as well as archival photographs and documents.

Born in Sling near Bethesda, Rhodri works as a professional photographer, based near Bologna, Italy. Working on both personal and commissioned projects around the world since 1989, COFION is his seventh personal photographic volume to be published. Described by Magnum photographer, Philip Jones Griffiths as a “Welsh poet with a camera”, Rhodri has had solo exhibitions in China, Eire, England, France, Greece, Italy, Netherlands, Poland, USA and Wales. His images have been used by leading magazines, newspapers, NGOs and publishers worldwide and his work is held in several public and private collections.