Beer mats to display images of Hull

The beer mats with the winning entries on them will be distributed to a number of pubs in December

Winning images in a photography competition will be displayed on beer mats in pubs and clubs rather than in an art gallery.

The Hull Beermat Photography Festival is part of Hull UK City of Culture.

Entrants are being asked to send in images of Hull and East Yorkshire on social media. The winners will be selected by photographer Martin Parr.

They will then be printed on beer mats to be distributed across the city later in the year.

'A pint or two'

Photographer Graeme Oxby, who is organising the competition, said: "We want to turn traditional exhibition style on its head with a new photography festival curated specifically with social settings and social media in mind.

"Forget white cubes, silent galleries and do not touch signs.

"Instead, picture images of Hull, submitted via Instagram and printed onto beer mats strewn across the tables of the city's pubs, clubs and venues.

"Touch them. Critique them. Or simply just enjoy them - and maybe a pint or two, too."

To help inspire people photography workshops are being held across the city in September and October.

The winning entries will be announced in November.

Brief history of the beer mat

• German printing company Friedrich Horn introduced the first cardboard beer mats in 1880

• The first wood pulp beer mat was made in 1892 by Robert Sputh of Dresden

• Printed beer mats were introduced in around 1900

• They came to the UK in the 1920s, produced by the Watneys brewery, advertising its pale ale

Sources: British Beermat Collectors Society